THOUGHTS   ON   EDUCATION 


"It  is  a  very  great  thing  to  be  able  to  think  as  you  like  ; 
but,  after  all,  an  important  question  remains — what  you 
think.  It  is  a  fine  thing  to  secure  a  free  stage  and  no  favour ; 
but,  after  all,  the  part  which  you  play  on  that  stage  will  have 
to  be  criticised.  Now,  all  the  liberty  and  industry  in  the 
world  will  not  ensure  two  things  :  a  high  reason  and  a  fine 
culture.  They  may  favour  them,  but  they  will  not  of  them- 
selves produce  them:  they  may  exist  without  them.  But  it 
is  by  the  appearance  of  these  two  things,  in  some  shape  or 
other,  in  the  life  of  a  nation,  that  it  becomes  something  more 
than  an  independent,  an  energetic,  a  successful  nation— that  it 
becomes  a  great  nation." — The  Popular  Education  of  France, 
with  Notices  of  that  of  Holland  and  Switzerland,  /.  xliii. 


THOUGHTS    ON 
EDUCATION 

CHOSEN  FROM  THE  WRITINGS  OF 

MATTHEW    ARNOLD 


EDITED   BY 

LEONARD    HUXLEY 


"  A  fugitive  and  gracious  light  he  seeks, 

Shy  to  illumine  ;  and  I  seek  it  too. 

This  does  not  come  with  houses  or  with  gold, 
\Vithplace,  "with  honour,  and  a  flattering  crew ; 

'  Tis  not  in  the  world's  market  bought  and  sold" — 

THYRSIS 


NEW   YORK 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY,  64-66,  FIFTH  AVENUE 
1912 


PRINTED   BY 

WILLIAM  CLOWES  AND  SONS,    LIMITED, 
LONDON   AND   BECCLES. 


PREFACE 

To  Mr.  Theodore  Reunert,  whose  name  I  gratefully 
place  first  among  my  few  words  of  preface,  this 
book  owes  its  inception,  and  not  its  inception  only, 
but  a  host  of  practical  suggestions.  His  own  activity 
on  the  Johannesburg  Council  of  Education,  his  own 
enthusiasm  for  that  which  is  the  chiefest  instrument 
of  civilisation,  owed  much  of  their  inspiration  to 
Matthew  Arnold,  the  labourer  in  the  field  of  practical 
education  as  well  as  the  apostle  of  enlightenment 
Xhe  inspector  of  English  schools,  the  investigator  of 
educational  systems  in  France  and  Germany,  in 
Holland,  Italy  and  Switzerland,  was  a  critic  of  edu- 
cational .ideas  and  educational  methods  who  could 
appreciate  the  best  in  them  while  exposing  their 
defects,  and  who  claimed  that  England  should  not 
fall  short  of  the  other  centres  of  European  civilisation 
in  making  true  education  a  national  concern,  in 
making  it  an  organised  training  for  the  many,  and 
not  either  the  privilege  of  the  few  or  the  prey  of  the 
charlatanism  and  cupidity  of  individual  speculation. 

Matthew  Arnold  long  regarded  himself  as  one 
crying  in  the  wilderness.  Yet  in  the  course  of  years 
his  voice  has  made  itself  heard  more  widely  than  the 
voice  of  many  another  who  wrote  on  education  ;  men 
perhaps  so  wholly  identified  with  strictly  educational 
work  that  they  appealed  for  the  most  part  to  profes- 
sional circles  only.  In  the  public  eye  he  was  not  the 
School  Inspector,  but  the  man  of  letters,  the  cham- 
pion of  a  high  cause ;  he  was  equipped  not  merely 
with  educational  formulas,  but  with  wide-ranging 


2C26S3O 


vi  PREFACE 

ideas ;  armed,  too,  with  memorable  phrases  and 
stinging  epigrams  for  the  knotted  cords  with  which 
to  drive  the  profane  and  mere  money-changers  from 
the  sanctuary  of  the  human  spirit.  In  him  was  some- 
what of  the  prophet  as  well  as  the  critic,  and  it  was 
this  prophetic  impulse,  I  think,  that  made  itself  felt 
among  thoughtful  persons  outside  the  circle  of 
educators  proper,  just  as  a  similar  prophetic  impulse 
made  itself  felt  from  his  contemporary  seers  of  natural 
science. 

The  crying  need  which  he  proclaimed  for  more 
wide-spread  culture  could  be  appreciated  by  every 
one  who  possessed  culture  or  realised  its  power.  He 
saw  popular  education  develop  in  many  ways  during 
his  lifetime,  not  always  on  the  lines  he  desired ;  but 
while  various  practical  details  which  he  advocated  in 
the  subjects  and  methods  of  teaching  have  been  left 
aside,  the  larger  ideals  at  which  he  would  have 
education  aim  have  constantly  shaped  the  develop- 
ments of  popular  education  during  the  years  that 
have  passed  since  his  death.  And  this  is  not  only  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  educational  world  has  long  known 
and  studied  the  record  of  his  technical  work  as 
inspector  of  schools,  his  foreign  reports  upon  schools 
and  universities  and  popular  education  of  the  Con- 
tinent, and  his  domestic  reports  upon  the  English 
schools  that  it  was  his  duty  to  inspect  year  after  year, 
admirable  selections  from  which  have  been  published 
from  the  Bluebooks  wherein  they  are  embalmed,  first 
by  Lord  Sandford,  and  latterly  by  Mr.  Marvin.  It 
was  due  also  to  the  fact  that  thoughtful  people  tfad 
been  stirred  by  his  general  essays,  wherein  the  ideals 
that  form  the  educational  goal  were  set  forth  not  in 


PREFACE  vii 

naked  isolation,  but  as  intimately  linked  with  the 
social  and  political  movements,  the  restless  dreams  of 
to-day,  and  the  established  realities  of  to-morrow 
which  lie  so  near  to  the  heart  of  that  eminently 
"political  creature,"  the  Englishman.  Nor  indeed 
were  these  high  considerations  absent  from  his  pro- 
fessional reports :  witness  "  Democracy,"  the  first  in 
the  volume  of  "  Mixed  Essays,"  which  is  the  intro- 
duction to  his  report  on  "Popular  Education  in 
France,"  now  inaccessible  save  in  the  libraries  of  the 
British  Museum  and  the  Board  of  Education,  and  the 
like.  Far  and  wide,  Matthew  Arnold's  prophesyings 
drove  home  the  conviction  that  education  is  not  a 
thing  of  the  schoolroom,  but  of  the  whole  body  politic. 
His  influence  was  the  greater  for  being  as  it  were 
indirect,  for  showing  the  value  of  education  in  terms 
of  our  more  obviously  insistent  problems. 

The  special  references  to  education,  however,  have 
remained  scattered  up  and  down  his  works.  That 
well-known  book  of  selections,  the  "  Prose  Passages," 
contains  but  a  handful  of  such.  To  collect  into  a  single 
volume  the  most  striking  passages  on  matters  educa- 
tional from  his  published  writings  and  from  Blue-books, 
was,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  idea  of  Mr.  Reunert 
who  had  marked  many  of  them  in  the  course  of  his 
reading.  That  the  execution  of  his  idea  has  fallen  to 
my  hand  is,  for  personal  as  well  as  general  reasons, 
a  peculiar  pleasure  to  me,  and  here,  if  I  may  not 
elsewhere,  I  gratefully  associate  his  name  with  this  book 
of  Matthew  Arnold's  "  Thoughts  on  Education." 

In  these  selections  are  included  passages  of  a  par- 
ticular and  professional  character  dealing  with  the 
state  of  schools  at  certain  periods  of  the  nineteenth 

a  2 


viii  PREFACE 

century,  as  well  as  others  of  wider  and  less  technical 
bearing.  Matthew  Arnold's  repeated  insistence  on 
the  value  of  literature  and  especially  poetry  as  a 
humanising  force  in  education  has  suggested  the 
inclusion  of  several  passages  of  literary  criticism  to 
show  what  kind  of  poetry  he  had  in  mind  as  possess- 
ing the  highest  formative  power.  The  arrangement 
is  chronological  as  far  as  may  conveniently  be,  an 
arrangement  which  will  enable  the  reader  to  follow 
Matthew  Arnold's  views  as  they  developed  with  the 
developments  of  the  time,  while  an  index  supplies 
cross-references  to  the  subjects  discussed.  Subjoined 
is  a  list  of  the  works  from  which  selections  have  been 
taken,  noting  the  edition  used  for  the  purpose,  and 
the  original  date  of  publication.  Nor  are  his  formal 
publications  alone  drawn  upon.  The  "  Letters  of 
Matthew  Arnold "  furnish  a  number  of  remarks  to 
intimate  correspondents  on  the  main  points  of  interest 
in  his  work  from  time  to  time.  For  permission  to 
include  some  material  that  is  still  in  copyright,  my 
best  thanks  are  due  to  Messrs.  Macmillan. 

This  volume  does  not  profess  to  exhaust  the 
educational  stores  in  Matthew  Arnold's  writings.  My 
hope  is  that  it  gathers  within  convenient  compass  the 
most  interesting  of  his  reflections,  whether  general  or 
particular,  and  will  help  alike  to  show  the  general 
reader  what  was  actuall}'  thought  and  done  for  educa- 
tion by  the  "  apostle  of  culture,"  and  to  push  forward 
by  direct  stimulus  or  indirect  suggestion  the  consum- 
mation of  a  true  educational  ideal  for  the  whole 
people. 

L.  H. 
December  1911 


LIST  OF  BOOKS   QUOTED  FROM 


R.  E.  S.  REPORTS  ON  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS,  1852-1882 
New  edition  by  F.  S.  Marvin.  (Wyman,  for  H.M. 
Stationery  Office,  1908.) 

L.    LETTERS  OF  MATTHEW  ARNOLD.    (Macmillan,  1895.) 
P.  E.  F.    THE    POPULAR   EDUCATION  OF    FRANCE,   WITH 
NOTICES  OF  THAT  OF  HOLLAND  AND  SWITZERLAND. 
(Longmans,    1861.)      A  reprint  of  the   Report    to   the 
Education  Commission,  1 86 1,  entitled  "  Popular  Educa- 
tion in  France,  Holland,   and  the   French   Cantons   of 
Switzerland,"  after  his  continental  mission  of  1859. 
O.  T.  H.    ON  TRANSLATING  HOMER.    (Smith,  Elder,  1896). 
Lectures  delivered  1860-1862. 

F.  E.  A  FRENCH  ETON.  (Macmillan,  1892).  Containing  "A 
French  Eton,"  1864,  that  portion  of  "Schools  and 
Universities  on  the  Continent"  (1868)  which  deals  with 
Secondary  Education  in  France,  and  a  Preface  (1874) 
written  when  the  German  portion  of  the  latter  book 
was  published  separately,  but  afterwards  omitted. 

E.  C.     ESSAYS  IN  CRITICISM.   First  Series  (Macmillan,  1865). 

H.  S.  G.  HIGHER  SCHOOLS  AND  UNIVERSITIES  IN  GER- 
MANY. (Macmillan,  1892.)  Published  in  1868  as  a 
Report  to  the  Schools  Enquiry  Commissioners  from 
1865  onwards. 

C.  L.  THE  STUDY  OF  CELTIC  LITERATURE.  (Smith, 
Elder,  1905:  Corn  hill  Magazine,  1866;  first  in  book 
form,  1867.) 


x        LIST   OF  BOOKS  QUOTED   FROM 

F.  G.  FRIENDSHIP'S  GARLAND.  (Smith,  Elder,  1903). 
Appeared  from  1866  to  1870  ;  first  published  in  book 
form,  1871. 

B.  R.  S.  A  BIBLE  READING  FOR  SCHOOLS.  The  Great 
Prophecy  of  Israel's  Restoration  :  Isaiah,  chapters  49- 
66  (Macmillan,  1872). 

I.  E.    IRISH  ESSAYS.    (Smith,  Elder,  1882.) 

U.  A.  DISCOURSES  IN  AMERICA  (Macmillan,  1885)  and 
Eversley  Series,  1906. 

S.  R.  E.  E.  SPECIAL  REPORT  ON  CERTAIN  POINTS  CON- 
NECTED WITH  ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION  IN  GER- 
MANY, SWITZERLAND,  AND  FRANCE.  (Eyre  & 
Spottiswoode,  1886.) 

L.  D.    LITERATURE  AND  DOGMA,  1873. 


CONTENTS 

PACK 

Proportion  in  Education       .        .        . 

Preface,  Johnson's 

Lives  of  the  Poets 

I 

Discipline      

R.  E.  S.  52  . 

3 

The  English  Language  in  Welsh  Schools 

R.  E.  S.  52  . 

4 

Co-education  for  Young  People     . 

R.  E.  S.  52  . 

5 

Lack  of  Culture  in  Pupil-teachers 

R.  E.  S.  52  . 

5 

Compulsory  Education  alone  Universal 

R.  E.  S.  53  . 

7 

The  Duty  of  the  School  Inspector 

R.  E.  S.  54  .        . 

7 

The  Schoolmaster         .        .        .        . 

R.  E.  S.  54  . 

9 

The  Teacher's  Training 

R.  E.  S.  55  •        • 

10 

Women  Teachers  in  1855     • 

L.  i,  46 

12 

Montalembert     on     English     Public 

Schools  and  Universities  .        .        . 

L.  i,  50 

12 

Napoleon's  Organisation  of  Church  and 

State  

L.  r,  114 

13 

The  American  Character  in  1860 

L.  i,  115 

13 

Reading-books  and  Culture  . 

R.  E.  S.  60  . 

14 

State  Interference  in  Education    . 

P.  E.  F.  xii. 

16 

Character  of  the  Masses  in  France 

P.  E.  F.  xxi. 

17 

Causes  of  the  Power  of  France     . 

P.  E.  F.  xxii. 

17 

Democracy's  Lack  of  Ideals  . 

P.  E.  F.  xxxii.      . 

18 

The  Lack  of  Public  Schools  for  the 

Middle  Class      

P.  E.  F.  xl.  . 

19 

Culture  and  Character  united  in  Athens 

P.  E.  F.  xliii.       . 

20 

French  Administrative  Divisions  in  1  859 

P.  E.  F.  5,  9         . 

22 

Over-Government  and  Under-Govern- 

ment  .        .         .        .        .        ,  '      . 

P.  E.  F.  1  1  . 

22 

The  Christian  Brothers'  Schools  . 

P.  E.  F.  14  and  1  6 

23 

Schools  Founded  by  the  Convention    . 

P.  E.  F.  24  . 

24 

xii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Educational    Results    of   the    French 

Revolution P.  E.  F.  29  .  .24 

Napoleon  as  Educator  .        .        .        .  P.  E.  F.  31-3  .  25 

Fusion  ofthe  Upper  and  Middle  Classes^ 

Secondary  Education  in  England  and  I  P.  E.  F.  74-7  .  27 

France  .) 

Mixed  Schools  in  France  and  Holland  P.  E.  F.  81  .  .  32 
Comparative  Expenditure  in  England 

and  France  in  1856    .         •         .        .  P.  E.  F.  88  .  .32 
Schoolless    Children    in   France    and 

England  in  1856         .        .        .        .  P.  E.  F.  101  .  33 

The  Sisters'  Schools  of  Paris        .         .  P.  E.  F.  103  .  33 

Needlework  Schools     .        .        .        .  P.  E.  F.  104  .  34 

Inspection  of  Private  Schools       .        .  P.  E.  F.  105-6  .  35 

Pupil-teachers P.  E.  F.  108-9  •  36 

Inspectors  as  Civil  Servants .        .        .  P.  E.  F.  147  .  38 

Rational  Form  of  the  Code  Napoldon  .  P.  E.  F.  159-60  ,  38 

Liberal  Spirit  of  French  Legislation     .  P.  E.  F.  160-1  .  40 
The  State  as  the  Organ  of  the  National 

Reason P.  E.  F.  164-5  .  41 

Society  dislocated  by  the  Spread  of 

Education P.  E.  F.  166-7  •  42 

The  Value  of  Ideals  to  a  Nation  .        .  P.  E.  F.  168-9  •  43 

The  Elimination  of  Superiorities} .        .  P.  E.  F.  192  .  44 
Excellence    of    Primary    Schools     in 

Holland P.  E.  F.  195-6,  201  45 

The  Society  for  the  Public  Good.        .  P.  E.  F.  197-8  .  46 

Organised  School  Inspection  in  Holland  P.  E.  F.  199  .  46 
Position     and     Character    of    Dutch 

Teachers P.  E.  F.  202-3  .  47 

Teachers'  Examination  in  Holland       .  P.  E.  F.  203  .  48 

Pupil-teachers  in  Holland     .        .        .  P.  E.  F.  204  .  48 

Religious  Instruction  in  Holland .         .  P.  E.  F.  204-5  •  49 

The  Normal  School  of  Haarlem  .        .  P.  E,  F.  206  .  50 

The  Schools  of  Leyden  and  Utrecht     .  P.  E.  F.  207  .51 

The  Value  of  Recitation        .        .        .  R.  E.  S.  61  .  .51 

The  most  Important  Poetical  Monument  O.  T.  H.  i    .  .  53 

The  Translator's  Task  .        .        .        .  O.  T.  H.  2   .  .54 

The  only  Competent  Tribunal      .        .  O.  T.  H.  4-5  .  54 


CONTENTS  xiii 

PAGE 

Virtue  of  the  Latin  Element  in  English  O.  T.  H.  7  .  .  55 
How  to  Approach  Homer  .  .  .  0.  T.  H.  8  .  .55 
The  Four  Qualities  of  Homer's  Poetry  O.  T.  H.  10.  .  56 
Unlikeness  of  Homer  to  Milton  .  .  O.  T.H.I  1-12  .  57 
Fidelity  in  a  Translator  .  .  .  O.  T.  H.  14  .  .58 
The  Objection  to  a  Rhymed  Translation  O.  T.  H.  15.  .  58 
How  Pope  fails  to  render  Homer.  .  O.  T.  H.  16.  .  59 
Pope's  Style  lacks  Plain  Naturalness  .  O.  T.  H.  19-20  .  60 
Pope's  Style  incapable  of  Good  Descrip- 
tions .  .  .  .  *  .  ,  .  O.  T.  H.  21-2  .  60 
Pope's  Fate  a  Warning  to  Translators  .  O.  T.  H.  22  .  .  61 
Pope's  Version  contrasted  with  Chap- 
man's    O.  T.  H.  22-3  .  62 

Chapman  wrongly  praised  by  the  Critics  O.  T.  H.  24  .  .  63 
Homer  and  the  Elizabethans  .  .  O.  T.  H.  25  .  .  64 
Chapman's  Complexity  of  Thought  .  O.  T.  H.  26-7  .  64 
Homer  Works  in  the  Grand  Style  .  O.  T.  H.  30  .  .  66 
The  One  Thing  demanded  of  a  Transla- 
tion    O.  T.  H.  32  .  .67 

Homeric  Unity O.  T.  H.  47 .  .67 

What  Constitutes  the  Grand  Style        .  O.  T.  H.  59-61  .     68 

Homer  and  Scott O.  T.  H.  61 .  .69 

English  Eccentricity  and  the  Need  of 

Criticism O.  T.  H.  65  .  .70 

The  Best  Metres  for  Epic  Poetry         .  O.  T.  H.  69-70  .     7 1 
Milton's  Blank  Verse    .        .        .        .  O.  T.  H.  71-2  .     73 
Milton  contrasted  with  Homer     .         .  O.  T.  H.  73  .  .     73 
The  Possibilities  of  the  English  Hexa- 
meter   O.  T.  H.  77.  .74 

Homer  and  the  Bible    .        .        .        .  O.  T.  H.  89.  .75 

Genius  of  Homer O.  T.  H.  106  .76 

The  Evils  of  Literary  Controversy        .  O.  T.  H.  108-9  •     76 

English  Literary  Opinion     .        .        .  O.  T.  H.  112  -77 

Danger  and  Charm  of  Dilettanteism    .  O.  T.  H.  114  .     78 

The  Saving  Grace  of  Ignorance   .        .  O.  T.  H.  116-17  .     79 

Homer  the  Bible  of  the  Athenians        .  O.  T.  H.  125  .     80 
The  Need  to  seek  a  Positive  Result  in 

Criticism O.  T.  H.  133-4  •     81 

What  is  "The  Grand  Style"  ?      .        .  O.  T.  H.  137-8  .    82 


xiv  CONTENTS 


The  Best  Models  of  the  Grand  Style   . 

O.  T.  H.  140-2 

.     84 

The  Critic's  First  Duty 

O.  T.  H.  155-6 

.     84 

Verse  Translation  best  for  Homer 

O.  T.  H.  157-8 

.     85 

Distinctive  Character  of  Poets     . 

O.  T.  H.  170-2 

.     86 

Some  Excuse  for  the  Author's  Vivacity 

O.  T.  H.  176 

.     88 

The  Revised  Code  of  1862     . 

L.  i,  148      . 

.     89 

Reading  and  Recitation                 .        . 

R.  E.  S.  63  . 

Q  I 

Teachers  and  Self-culture     . 

R.  E.  S.  63  . 

•    93 

A  Learned  and  a  Liberal  Education     . 

L-  i,  233       . 

•     93 

The  Reform  of  Eton     .... 

F.E.3-4     • 

.     94 

French  and  English  Literature     . 

F.  E.  17-18  . 

•     94 

Lacordaire    

F.  E.  26,  28  . 

•    95 

Cost  of  Secondary  Instruction      .        « 

F.E.37-8    . 

.    96 

The  Need  of  Securities  for  Efficiency  . 

F.  E.  43       - 

•     97 

The  Law  of  Supply  and  Demand  In- 

applicable .        .        .        .        . 

F.  E.  44-5    . 

.     98 

Delusive  Examinations 

F.  E.  57-8   . 

.    99 

The  Real  Needs  in  Secondary  Instruc- 

F   E.  60-3   . 

GO 

The  Middle  Class  and  Higher  Education 

F.  E.  66-7    • 

.    102 

Middle  Class  Education  and  the  State 

F.  E.  99-101 

.    103 

Public    Establishment    of    Secondary 

F.  E.  126-7. 

Middle    Class    Education     and     the 

Working  Class  

F.  E.  130-2  . 

.    1  06 

National  Influence  of  the  Intellectual 

Life    

IO7 

Educative  Effect  of  the  Aristocratic  Ideal 

L.  i,  305      . 

•    *v-v 

.  108 

Oxford    

E.  C.  xviii.  . 

.  109 

Grammar  and  Science  Teaching  . 

L.  r,  313 

.  no 

Class  Division  and  State  Authority 

L-  i,  335      • 

.  in 

Public  Schools  and  the  Middle  Class  . 

F.  G.  25 

.    112 

The  Three  Classes  of  Philistine    . 

F.  G.  35       • 

.  113 

Stein's  Land  Reform     .... 

F.  G.  36       . 

.  114 

Teaching  at    Eton   and   at    Lycurgus 

House        

F.  G.  49 

.  116 

Compulsion  for  all  Classes  Alike  . 

F.  G.  52 

.  119 

The  Welsh  Problem      .... 

C.  L.  ix.        . 

.  119 

The  Bilingual  Question 

C.  L.  10 

.    121 

CONTENTS 

Payment  by  Results  .  .  »-  . 
Would  Compulsory  Education  Succeed? 
The  Choice  of  School  Books  .'  V 
The  Old  Private  School  .  .  . 
Origin  of  our  Secondary  Schools  . 
The  University  of  Paris 

Paris  and  Oxford  .        .        .        .        . 
Studies  in  the  Universities  of  Paris 

The  College  of  France  .        .        V. 
Schools  of  the  Jesuits    .... 
Condorcet's  Plan  of  Secondary  Educa- 
tion      

Napoleon's  Work 

Revenue    of  the   New   University   of 

France        

Guizot's  Law  of  Primary  Instruction    . 
Ministry     and     Council     of     Public 

Instruction         .        .        .        . 
The  Normal  School       .        . 
Oxford  and  Cambridge 
French  and  English  Schoolmasters 
Examinations  in  France  and  England  . 
Private  Schools  in  France  and  England 
Discipline    in    French     and    English 

Schools 

Growing  Disbelief  in  Greek  and  Latin  . 
Appointment  by  Examination 
Value  of  Public  Establishments   . 
Motto  from  Humboldt  .... 
The  Experience  of  the  Continent . 
Compulsory  Education .... 
Higher  Education         .... 
Technical  Schools         .... 
Council  of  Education    . 
Obstacles  to  Profiting  by  Continental 

Experience         .        .  .  * 


XV 

PAGE 

R.  E.  S.  67  . 

121 

R.  E.  S.  67  . 

122 

R.  E.  S.  67  . 

124 

R.  E.  S.  67  . 

124 

F.  E.  218     . 

127 

F.  E.  2  10-12,  229- 

31       • 

128 

F.  E.  226-7  • 

130 

F.  E.  232-3,  234, 

237     . 

131 

F.  E.  238     . 

133 

F.  E.  239-40 

134 

F.  E.  241 

135 

F.  E.  245-6,  248, 

252     . 

135 

F.  E.  247,  253-4  . 

136 

F.  E.  251-2. 

137 

F.  E.  266-7  . 

138 

F.  E.  279,  283-5  • 

139 

F.  E.  281      . 

141 

F.  E.  288,  290-2  . 

142 

F.  R.  328-31 

144 

F.  E.  337-8 

I46 

F.  E.  366-7  . 

H7 

F.  E.  394-5 

I48 

F.  E.  412      . 

ISO 

F.  E.  4U-I5 

IS* 

H.  S.  G.  iv.  . 

IS* 

H.  S.  G.  ix.  . 

152 

H.  S.  G.  x.-xii.    . 

152 

H.  S.  G.  xv. 

155 

H.  S.  G.  xviii.      . 

I56 

H.  S.  G.  xix. 

157 

H.  S.  G.  xx.-i. 


158 


xvi  CONTENTS 

The  Initial  Defect  in  English  Schools  . 
Reform  of  Classical  Studies  .  .  . 
Prussian  School  Law  .... 
Prussian  Leaving  Examination  . 

Pedagogic 

Teachers  of  Modern  Languages    . 
The  Art  of  Teaching      .... 
Need  of  an  Education  Minister    . 
Prussian  Belief  in  Culture 
Religious      Instruction     in      Prussian 

Schools 

Salaries  of  Prussian  Schoolmasters 
The  Ancient  Authors  as  Literature 
Wise  Choice  of  Text-Books  . 
Games  at  German  Schools    . 
Value  of  Classical  Training  .         .  "      . 

The  Pri-vatdocent 

Brodstudien  and  Examinations     . 
The  System  of  the  German  Universities 
The   Conflict   between   Classical   and 

Modern  Studies         .... 
The  True  Aim  of  Instruction 
Routine  in  our  Public  Schools 
Alter thumswissenschaft 
The  Commercial  Theory  of  Education 
The  Conclusion  of  the  Whole  Matter   . 
Our  Middle  Class  Education 

Relative  Efficiency  of  Public  and  Private 
Schools 

Functions  of  a  Council  of  Education     . 

Public  Supervision  of  Endowed  Schools 

English  Universities  merely  Hants 
Lyctes 

Provincial  Universities  Foreshadowed . 

Limitation  of  Degree-Giving  Powers    . 

State  Appointment  of  Professors  . 

Training  a  better  security  of  Fitness 
than  Examinations  .... 


FAGS 

H. 

S. 

G.  2  . 

159 

H. 

S. 

G.  13  .    . 

160 

H. 

S. 

G.  20-2    . 

161 

H. 

S. 

G.  54-6   . 

163 

H. 

S. 

G.  67  . 

164 

H. 

S. 

G.  68-9   • 

165 

H. 

S. 

G.73-   • 

165 

H. 

S.  G.  82-3   . 

165 

H. 

S. 

G.  85  . 

167 

H. 

S. 

G.  85-7   . 

167 

H. 

S. 

G.  96  . 

169 

II. 

S. 

G.  109-10  . 

169 

H. 

S. 

G.  112-13  • 

170 

H. 

S. 

G.  124-5  • 

171 

H. 

S. 

G.  131-2  . 

172 

H. 

S. 

G.  142-4  . 

173 

H.  S.  G.  148-9    .  175 
H.  S.  G.  152 


176 


H.  S.  G. 153        .  177 

H.  S.  G.  154-60  .  177 

H.  S.  G.  161-2    .  182 

H.  S.  G.  167-70  .  183 

H.  S.  G.  172-5     .  185 

H.  S.  G.  175-6  .  187 
H.  S.  G.  187-91 

(M.  E.  147)        •  189 

H.  S.  G.  200  .  192 
H.  S.  G.  201-3  •  192 
H.  S.  G.  206-8  .  194 

H.  S.  G.  209-10  .  195 
H.  S.  G.  218-19  •  196 

TT      r»      r^      _ 


H.  S.  G.  220 

H.  S.  G.  222-3 
H.  S.  G.  225 


197 

198 

199 


CONTENTS 

The  English  Character  .  ... 
Obedience  and  Right  Action  •  .  . 
Need  of  a  Serious  Conception  of 
Righteousness  .... 
Recitation  as  a  Formative  Influence  . 
Latin  in  Elementary  Schools  .  "  *~'_ 
Educational  Interest  of  "  A  Bible 

Reading  for  Schools"        .    .    .     ". 
Importance  of  Letters  in  Schools . 
Value  of  a  Classical  Education     .        . 
Relation  of  Classical  to  Modern  Poetry 
The  Bible  the  only  Possible  Classic  for 

the  People 

Hindrances  to  Bible  Reading  in  Schools 
Disregard  of  the  Civilising  Power  of 

Letters 

Culture  needed  for  All  .... 
German  and  English  Law-Making 
University  Education  in  Ireland  . 
The  Need  of  Religion    .... 

State-appointed  Professors  . 

Clap-Trap  and  Catch-Words        , 

Confectioner  and  Doctor 

Good  Recitation  as  helping  Intelligence 

The  Regulation  of  Studies    . 

Grammar  as  a  Class  Subject 

Science  and  Letters      .... 

Natur-kunde 

The  Formative  Power  of  Poetry  . 
Middle    Class    and    Working    Class 

Education 

The  Influence  of  Poetry 
Influences  affecting  Voluntary  Schools 
Cramming,  and  the  Creative  Spirit       . 
The  Governing  Aim  of  Education 
The  Aim  of  Education  .... 
Formative  Influence  of  Masterpieces  . 
Eutrapelia 


XVll 

PAGE 

F.  G.  x. 

I99 

F.  G.  xii.   . 

200 

L.  2,  47 

201 

R.  E.  S.  72  . 

202 

R.  E.  S.  72  . 

203 

L.  2,  86 

205 

B.  R.  S.  vi-vii.  . 

205 

B.  R.  S.  vii-viii  . 

208 

B.  R.  S.  ix-x. 

210 

B.  R.  S.  x-xi. 

212 

B.  R.  S.  xi-xii.   . 

213 

B.  R.  S.  xii.  . 

215 

L.  D.  7i-3  •    • 

216 

F.  E.  137-40 

217 

F.  E.  153-4,  155  • 

220 

F.  E.  159,  161, 

191,  201-2  . 

221 

F.  E.  188-9. 

223 

F.  E.  215   . 

224 

F.  E.  215-16 

224 

R.  E.  S.  74  . 

225 

L.  2,  123 

227 

R.  E.  S.  76  . 

228 

R.  E.  S.  76  . 

229 

R.  E.  S.  78  . 

230 

R.  E.  S.  78  . 

232 

L.  2,  151 

233 

R.  E.  S.  80  . 

234 

R.  E.  S.  82  . 

235 

R.  E.  S.  82  . 

239 

R.  E.  S.  80  . 

242 

I.  E.  184   . 

243 

I.  E.  184   .   t 

244 

I.  E.  187   . 

244 

xviii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Regular  Reading L.  2, 196       .        .249 

Reading  of  Books  Hindered  by  News- 
papers          L.  2,  268               .250 

Light  also  a  Moral  Cause     .        .        .  D.  A.  x-xi.  .        .,  250 
The  Things  of  the  Mind  as  a  Political 

Force D.  A.  30-7   .        .251 

The  Love  of  France      .        .        .        .  D.  A.  38-9   .        .  254 
The  Rivalry  of  Literature  and  Science 

in  Education D.  A.  76-92         .  255 

Science  Teaching  and  Human  Nature  D.  A.  99-102  .  262 
Mediaeval  Universities  .  .  .  D.  A.  115-16  .  264 
The  Middle  Ages,  Science  and  Letters  D.  A.  117-18  .  264 
The  Final  Need  of  Letters  in  Education  D.  A.  124-6  .  265 
The  Study  of  Greek  ....  D.  A.  130-2  .266 
The  Necessity  for  Literature  .  .  D.  A.  136-7  .  267 
Free  Education  in  Saxony  .  .  .  S.  R.  E.  E.  6  .  268 
'  Quality  of  Education  .  .  .  .  S.  R.  E.  E.  13-14  268 
Careful  Grounding  .  .  .  .  S.  R.  E.  E.  14  .  270 
The  Humanising  Touch  .  .  .  S.  R.  E.  E.  14  .  270 
Religious  Teaching  in  Germany  .  .  S.  R.  E.  E.  14  .  272 
Organisation  the  Secret  of  Superiority  S.  R.  E.  E.  15  .  273 
Lack  of  Co-ordination  .  .  .  .  S.  R.  E.  E.  15  .  274 
Co-ordination  of  Primary  and  Secon- 
dary Education S.  R.  E.  E.  16  .  275 

Status,  Training,  and   Pensioning  of 

Teachers S.  R.  E.  E.  16-17  276 

French  Training  Schools       .         .         .  S.  R.  E.  E.  18     .280 

General  Reflections  from  Abroad         .  S.  R.  E.  E.  24-5  .  281 

INDEX 285 


THOUGHTS    ON    EDUCATION 

Proportion  in  Education 

DA  milii,  Domine,  scire  quod  sciendum  est,  "  Grant 
that  the  knowledge  I  get  may  be  the  knowledge 
which  is  worth  having  !  " — the  spirit  of  that  prayer 
ought  to  rule  our  education.  How  little  it  does  rule 
it,  every  discerning  man  will  acknowledge.  Life  is 
short,  and  our  faculties  of  attention  and  of  recollec- 
tion are  limited  ;  in  education  we  proceed  as  if  our 
life  were  endless,  and  our  powers  of  attention  and 
recollection  inexhaustible.  We  have  no  time  or 
strength  to  deal  with  half  of  the  matters  which  are 
thrown  upon  our  minds  ;  they  prove  a  useless  load 
to  us.  When  some  one  talked  to  Themistocles  of 
an  art  of  memory,  he  answered  :  "  Teach  me  rather 
to  forget !  "  The  sarcasm  well  criticizes  the  fatal 
want  of  proportion  between  what  we  put  into  our 
minds  and  their  real  needs  and  powers. 

From  the  time  when  first  I  was  led  to  think  about 
education,  this  want  of  proportion  is  what  has  most 
struck  me.  It  is  the  great  obstacle  to  progress,  yet 
it  is  by  no  means  remarked  and  contended  against 
as  it  should  be.  It  hardly  begins  to  present  itself 
until  we  pass  beyond  the  strict  elements  of  education, 
beyond  the  acquisition,  I  mean,  of  reading,  of  writing, 
and  of  calculating  so  far  as  the  operations  of  common 


2  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

life  require.  But  the  moment  we  pass  beyond 
these,  it  begins  to  appear.  Languages,  grammar, 
literature,  history,  geography,  mathematics,  the 
knowledge  of  nature,  what  of  these  is  to  be  taught, 
how  much,  and  how  ?  There  is  no  clear,  well- 
grounded  consent.  The  same  with  religion.  Re- 
ligion is  surely  to  be  taught,  but  what  of  it  is  to  be 
taught  and  how  ?  A  clear  well-grounded  consent 
is  again  wanting.  And  taught  in  such  fashion  as 
things  are  now,  how  often  must  a  candid  and  sensible 
man,  if  he  were  offered  an  art  of  memory  to  secure 
all  that  he  has  learned  of  them,  be  inclined,  as  to 
a  very  great  deal  of  it,  to  say  with  Themistocles  : 
"  Teach  me  rather  to  forget !  " 

In  England  the  common  notion  seems  to  be 
that  education  is  advanced  in  two  ways  principally  : 
by  for  ever  adding  fresh  matters  of  instruction,  and 
by  preventing  uniformity.  I  should  be  inclined  to 
prescribe  just  the  opposite  course ;  to  prescribe  a 
severe  limitation  of  the  number  of  matters  taught,  a 
severe  uniformity  in  the  line  of  study  followed.  Wide 
ranging  and  the  multiplication  of  matters  to  be 
investigated,  belong  to  private  study,  to  the  de- 
velopment of  special  aptitudes  in  the  individual 
learner,  and  to  the  demands  which  they  raise  in 
him.  But  separate  from  all  this  should  be  kept  the 
broad  plain  lines  of  study  for  almost  universal  use. 
I  say  almost  universal,  because  they  must  of  necessity 
vary  a  little  with  the  varying  conditions  of  men. 
Whatever  the  pupil  finds  set  out  for  him  upon  these 
lines,  he  should  learn ;  therefore  it  ought  not  to 
be  too  much  in  quantity.  The  essential  thing  is 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  3 

that  it  should  be  well  chosen.  If  once  we  can  get  it 
well  chosen,  the  more  uniformly  it  can  be  kept  to, 
the  better.  The  teacher  will  be  more  at  home  ;  and 
besides,  when  we  have  once  got  what  is  good  and 
suitable,  there  is  small  hope  of  gain,  and  great  cer- 
tainty of  risk,  in  departing  from  it. 

Preface  to  Johnson's  "  Lives  of  the  Poets." 


Discipline 

I  AM  convinced  there  is  no  class  of  children  so 
indulged,  so  generally  brought  up  (at  home  at  least) 
without  discipline,  that  is,  without  habits  of  respect, 
exact  obedience,  and  self-control,  as  the  children  of 
the  lower  middle  class  in  this  country.  The  children 
of  very  poor  parents  receive  a  kind  of  rude  discipline 
from  circumstances,  if  not  from  their  parents ; 
the  children  of  the  upper  classes  are  generally 
brought  up  in  habits  of  regular  obedience,  because 
these  classes  are  sufficiently  enlightened  to  know  of 
what  benefit  such  a  training  is  to  the  children  them- 
selves ;  but  children  of  the  class  I  am  alluding  to 
receive  no  discipline  from  circumstances,  for  they  are 
brought  up  amidst  comparative  abundance ;  they 
receive  none  from  their  parents,  who  are  only  half 
educated  themselves,  and  can  understand  no  kind- 
ness except  complete  indulgence ;  and,  in  conse- 
quence, nowhere  have  I  seen  such  insubordination, 
such  wilfulness,  and  such  a  total  want  of  respect  for 
their  parents  and  teachers  as  among  these  children. 
The  teacher's  hands  cannot  be  too  much  strengthened 
in  the  schools  which  this  class  frequents  ;  for,  if 


4  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

they  are  not  disciplined  at  school,  they  will,  while 
young,  be  disciplined  nowhere ;  and  a  scale  of 
fees  is  peculiarly  undesirable,  which  makes  the 
teacher  dependent  on  the  favour  of  their  parents, 
and  unwilling  to  risk  that  favour  by  introducing 
strict  habits  of  discipline. 

General  Report,  1852. 

The  English  Language  in  Welsh  Schools 

THE  children  in  the  Welsh  Schools  are  generally 
docile  and  quick  in  apprehension,  to  a  greater  degree 
than  English  children ;  their  drawback,  of  course, 
is  that  they  have  to  acquire  the  medium  of  informa- 
tion, as  well  as  the  information  itself,  while  the 
English  children  possess  the  medium  at  the  outset, 
There  can,  I  think,  be  no  question  but  that  the 
acquirement  of  the  English  language  should  be  more 
and  more  insisted  upon  by  your  Lordships  in  your 
relations  with  these  schools  as  the  one  main  object  for 
which  your  aid  is  granted.  Whatever  encourage- 
ment individuals  may  think  it  desirable  to  give  to 
the  preservation  of  the  Welsh  language  on  grounds  of 
philological  or  antiquarian  interest,  it  must  always 
be  the  desire  of  a  Government  to  render  its  domi- 
nions, as  far  as  possible,  homogeneous,  and  to  break 
down  barriers  to  the  freest  intercourse  between 
the  different  parts  of  them.  Sooner  or  later,  the 
difference  of  language  between  Wales  and  England 
will  probably  be  effaced,  as  has  happened  with  the 
difference  of  language  between  Cornwall  and  the  rest 
of  England  ;  as  is  now  happening  with  the  difference 
of  language  between  Brittany  and  the  rest  of  France  ; 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  5 

and  they  are  not  the  true  friends  of  the  Welsh  people, 
who,  from  a  romantic  interest  in  their  manners 
and  traditions,  would  impede  an  event  which  is 
socially  and  politically  so  desirable  for  them. 

General  Report,  1852. 

Co-education  for  Young  People 

I  MUST  say  that  I  have  never  seen  any  inconvenience 
arising  from  bringing  together  boys  and  girls  in  the 
same  school,  if  their  playgrounds  are  kept  distinct. 
Indeed,  the  education  of  girls,  when  they  learn  with 
boys  and  from  a  master,  appears  to  me  to  gain  that 
very  correctness  and  stringency  which  female 
education  generally  wants;  while  a  female  teacher 
is  no  doubt  the  person  best  qualified  to  instruct 
infants  of  both  sexes. 

General  Report,  1852. 

Lack  of  Culture  in  Pupil-Teachers 

ON  one  other  topic,  in  connection  with  the  subject 
of  pupil-teachers,  I  am  anxious  to  touch  in  conclusion. 
In  the  general  opinion  of  the  advantages  which  have 
resulted  from  the  employment  of  them,  I  most  fully 
concur ;  and  of  the  acquirements  and  general  be- 
haviour of  the  greater  number  of  those  of  them  whom 
I  have  examined  I  wish  to  speak  favourably.  But  I 
have  been  much  struck  in  examining  them  towards 
the  close  of  their  apprenticeship,  when  they  are 
generally  at  least  eighteen  years  old,  with  the  utter 
disproportion  between  the  great  amount  of  positive 
information  and  the  low  degree  of  mental  culture 
and  intelligence  which  they  exhibit.  Young  men, 


6  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

whose  knowledge  of  grammar,  of  the  minutest  details 
of  geographical  and  historical  facts,  and  above  all 
of  mathematics,  is  surprising,  often  cannot  para- 
phrase a  plain  passage  of  prose  or  poetry  without 
totally  misapprehending  it,  or  write  half  a  page  of 
composition  on  any  subject  without  falling  into 
gross  blunders  of  taste  and  expression.  I  cannot 
but  think  that,  with  a  body  of  young  men  so  highly 
instructed,  too  little  attention  has  hitherto  been 
paid  to  this  side  of  education ;  the  side  through 
which  it  chiefly  forms  the  character ;  the  side 
which  has  perhaps  been  too  exclusively  attended  to 
in  schools  for  the  higher  classes,  and  to  the  deve- 
lopment of  which  it  is  the  boast  of  what  is  called 
classical  education  to  be  mainly  directed.  I  attach 
little  importance  to  the  study  of  languages,  ancient 
or  modern,  by  pupil- teachers,  for  they  can  seldom 
have  the  time  to  study  them  to  much  purpose 
without  neglecting  other  branches  of  instruction 
which  it  is  necessary  that  they  should  follow ;  but  I 
am  sure  that  the  study  of  portions  of  the  best 
English  authors  and  composition,  might  with  ad- 
vantage be  made  a  part  of  their  regular  course  of 
instruction  to  a  much  greater  degree  than  it  is  at 
present.  Such  a  training  would  tend  to  elevate  and 
humanise  a  number  of  young  men,  who  at  present, 
notwithstanding  the  vast  amount  of  raw  informa- 
tion which  they  have  amassed,  are  wholly  un- 
cultivated ;  and  it  would  have  the  great  social 
advantage  of  tending  to  bring  them  into  intellectual 
sympathy  with  the  educated  of  the  upper  classes. 

General  Report,  1852. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  7 

Compulsory  Education  alone  Universal 

I  AM  far  from  imagining  that  a  lower  school  fee,  or 
even  a  free  admission,  would  induce  the  poor 
universally  to  send  their  children  to  school.  It  is 
not  the  high  payments  alone  which  deter  them  ; 
all  I  say  is,  as  to  the  general  question  of  the  education 
of  the  masses,  that  they  deter  them  in  many  cases. 
But  it  is  my  firm  conviction,  that  education  will 
never,  any  more  than  vaccination,  become  universal 
in  this  country,  until  it  is  made  compulsory. 

General  Report,  1853. 

The  Duty  of  the  School  Inspector 

His  first  duty  is  that  of  a  simple  and  faithful  re- 
porter to  your  Lordships ;  the  knowledge  that 
imperfections  in  a  school  have  been  occasioned 
wholly  or  in  part  by  peculiar  local  difficulties,  may 
very  properly  restrain  him  from  recommending  the 
refusal  of  grants  to  that  school ;  but  it  ought  not  to 
restrain  him  from  recording  the  imperfections.  It  is 
for  your  Lordships  to  decide  how  far  such  imperfec- 
tions shall  subsequently  be  made  public  ;  but  that 
they  should  be  plainly  stated  to  you  by  the  In- 
spector whom  you  employ  there  can  be,  I  think,  no 
doubt  at  all.  It  is  said  that  the  Inspector  is  sent 
into  his  district  to  encourage  and  promote  education 
in  it ;  that  often,  if  he  blames  a  school,  he  discourages 
what  maybe,  from  local  difficulties,  a  struggling  effort, 
and  an  effort  whose  inferiority  is  owing  to  no  fault 
of  its  promoters.  I  answer,  that  it  is  true  that  the 


8  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Inspector  is  sent  into  his  district  to  encourage 
education  in  it ;  but  in  what  manner  to  encourage 
education  ?  By  promoting  the  efficiency,  through 
the  offer  of  advice  and  of  pecuniary  and  other  helps, 
to  the  individual  schools  which  he  visits  in  it ;  not 
by  seeking  to  maintain  by  undeserved  praise,  or  to 
shelter  by  the  suppression  of  blame,  the  system,  the 
state  of  things  under  which  it  is  in  the  power  of  this 
or  that  local  hindrance  to  render  a  school  inefficient, 
and  under  which  many  schools  are  found  inefficient 
accordingly. 

A  certain  system  may  exist,  and  your  Lordships 
may  offer  assistance  to  schools  established  under  it ; 
but  you  have  not,  surely,  on  that  account  committed 
yourselves  to  a  faith  in  its  perfect  excellence ;  you 
have  not  pledged  yourselves  to  its  ultimate  success. 
The  business  of  your  Inspector  is  not  to  make  out  a 
case  for  that  system,  but  to  report  on  the  condition 
of  public  education  as  it  evolves  itself  under  it,  and 
to  supply  your  Lordships  and  the  nation  at  large 
with  data  for  determining  how  far  the  system  is 
successful.  If,  for  fear  of  discouraging  voluntary 
efforts,  Inspectors  are  silent  respecting  the  deficien- 
cies of  schools — respecting  the  feeble  support  given 
to  this  school,  the  imperfect  accommodations  in 
another,  the  faulty  discipline  or  instruction  in  a 
third,  and  the  failure  of  all  alike  to  embrace  the 
poorest  class  of  children — if  everything  is  repre- 
sented as  hopeful  and  prosperous,  lest  a  manager 
should  be  disappointed  or  a  subscriber  estranged — 
then  a  delusion  is  prolonged  in  the  public  mind  as  to 
the  real  character  of  the  present  state  of  things,  a 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  g 

delusion  which  it  is  the  very  object  of  a  system  of 
public  inspection,  exercised  by  agents  of  the  Govern- 
ment on  behalf  of  the  country  at  large,  to  dispel 
and  remove.  Inspection  exists  for  the  sake  of  finding 
out  and  reporting  the  truth,  and  for  this  above  all. 

But  it  is  most  important  that  all  Inspectors  should 
proceed  on  the  same  principle  in  this  respect — that 
one  should  not  conceal  defects  as  an  advocate  for 
the  schools,  while  another  exposes  them  as  an  agent 
for  the  Government.  If  this  happens,  besides  that 
the  general  picture  of  the  state  of  education  will  be 
unfaithful,  there  is  also  a  positive  hardship  inflicted 
on  the  schools  which  are  frankly  reported  on  ;  they 
will  appear  at  a  disadvantage  compared  with  other 
schools,  not  because  they  are  really  in  a  better  state, 
but  because  the  statement  of  their  defects  is  softened 
down  or  altogether  suppressed. 

General  Report,  1854. 

The  Schoolmaster 

ALTHOUGH  I  thus  press  for  the  most  unvarnished 
and  literal  report  on  their  schools,  I  can  assure  the 
teachers  of  them  that  it  is  from  no  harshness  or  want 
of  sympathy  towards  them  that  I  do  so.  No  one 
feels  more  than  I  do  how  laborious  is  their  work, 
how  trying  at  times  to  the  health  and  spirits,  how 
full  of  difficulty  even  for  the  best :  how  much  fuller 
for  those  whom  I  too  often  see  attempting  the  work 
of  a  schoolmaster — men  of  weak  health  and  purely 
studious  habits,  who  betake  themselves  to  this 
profession,  as  affording  the  means  to  continue  their 


io  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

favourite  pursuits ;  not  knowing,  alas,  that  for  all 
but  men  of  the  most  singular  and  exceptional  vigour 
and  energy,  there  are  no  pursuits  more  irrecon- 
cilable than  those  of  the  student  and  of  the  school- 
master. Still,  the  quantity  of  work  actually  done 
at  present  by  teachers  is  immense :  the  sincerity 
and  devotedness  of  much  of  it  is  even  affecting. 
They  themselves  will  be  the  greatest  gainers  by  a 
system  of  reporting  which  clearly  states  what  they 
do  and  what  they  fail  to  do  ;  not  one  which  drowns 
alike  success  and  failure,  the  able  and  the  inefficient, 
in  a  common  flood  of  vague  approbation. 

General  Report,  1854. 


The  Teacher's  Training 

MUCH  of  the  exaggeration  respecting  the  over-teach- 
ing in  elementary  schools  arises,  I  think,  in  the 
following  way.  People  read  the  examination  papers, 
which  are  printed  from  year  to  year  in  your  Lord- 
ships' Minutes,  and  exclaim  at  the  rate  of  attainment 
demanded  ;  as  if  the  rate  of  attainment  demanded 
by  those  examination  papers  was  the  rate  of  attain- 
ment demanded  in  elementary  schools.  They  forget 
that  these  examination  papers  are  for  teachers,  not  for 
scholars. 

Yes  ;  but,  they  say,  why  demand  so  much  learn- 
ing from  those  who  will  have  to  impart  so  little  ? 
Why  impose  on  those  who  will  have  to  teach  the 
rudiments  only  of  knowledge  to  the  children  of  the 
poor,  an  examination  so  wide  in  its  range,  so  search- 
ing in  its  details  ? 


THOUGHTS   ON  EDUCATION  n 

The  answer  to  this  involves  the  whole  question  as 
to  the  training  of  the  teachers  of  elementary  schools. 
It  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  the  plan  which  these 
objectors  recommend,  the  plan  of  employing  teachers 
whose  attainments  do  not  rise  far  above  the  level  of 
the  attainments  of  their  scholars,  has  already  been 
tried.  It  has  been  tried,  and  it  has  failed.  Its 
fruits  were  to  be  seen  in  the  condition  of  elementary 
education  throughout  England,  until  a  very  recent  / 
period.  It  is  now  sufficiently  clear,  that  the  teacher  I 
to  whom  you  give  only  a  drudge's  training,  will  do  : 
only  a  drudge's  work,  and  will  do  it  in  a  drudge's] 
spirit :  that  in  order  to  ensure  good  instruction  even 
within  narrow  limits  in  a  school,  you  must  provide 
it  with  a  master  far  superior  to  his  scholars,  with  a 
master  whose  own  attainments  reach  beyond  the 
limits  within  which  those  of  his  scholars  may  be 
bounded.  To  form  a  good  teacher  for  the  simplest 
elementary  school,  a  period  of  regular  training  is 
requisite  :  this  period  must  be  foiled  with  work  :  can 
the  objectors  themselves  suggest  a  course  of  work 
for  this  period,  which  shall  materially  differ  from 
that  now  pursued ;  or  can  they  affirm  that  the 
attainments  demanded  by  the  certificate-examina- 
tion exceed  the  limits  of  what  may  without  over- 
work be  acquired  within  the  period  of  his  training, 
by  a  man  of  twenty  or  twenty-one  years  of  age,  of 
fair  intelligence,  and  of  fair  industry  ? 

General  Report,  1855. 


12  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Women  Teachers  in  1855 

I  AM  rather  interested  in  seeing  the  Training 
School  for  the  first  time.  I  am  much  struck  with 
the  utter  unfitness  of  women  for  teachers  or  lecturers. 
No  doubt  it  is  no  natural  incapacity,  but  the  fault 
of  their  bringing  up.  They  are  quick  learners 
enough,  and  there  is  nothing  to  complain  of  in  the 
students  on  the  female  side  ;  but  when  one  goes  from 
hearing  one  of  the  lecturers  on  the  male  side  to  hear 
a  lecturer  on  the  female  side  there  is  a  vast  difference. 
However,  the  men  lecturers  at  the  Boro'  Road  are 
certainly  above  the  average,  one  from  his  great 
experience,  the  other  from  his  great  ability.  You 
should  have  heard  the  rubbish  the  female  Principal, 
a  really  clever  young  woman,  talked  to  her  class  of 
girls  of  seventeen  to  eighteen  about  a  lesson  in 
Milton. 

"  Letters  of  Matthew  Arnold,"  i.  46. 

Montalembert  on  English  Public  Schools  and 
Universities,  1856 

WHAT  he  says  about  the  Public  Schools  and 
Universities  comes  curiously  from  a  foreigner,  and 
just  now  ;  but  I  think  there  is  much  truth  in  it,  and 
that  if  the  aristocratical  institutions  of  England 
could  be  saved  by  anything,  they  would  be  saved 
by  these.  But  as  George  Sand  says  in  the  end  of 
her  Memoirs  :  "  L'humanite  tend  a  se  niveler  : 
elle  le  veut,  elle  le  doit,  elle  le  fera  ;  "  and  though  it 
does  not  particularly  rejoice  me  to  think  so,  I  believe 
that  this  is  true,  and  that  the  English  aristocratic 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  13 

system,  splendid  fruits  as  it  has  undoubtedly  borne, 
must  go.  I  say  it  does  not  rejoice  me  to  think 
this,  because  what  a  middle  class  and  people  we 
have  in  England !  of  whom  Saint  Simon  says  truly  : 
"  Sur  tous  les  chantiers  de  1'Angleterre  il  n'existe 
pas  une  seule  grande  idee." 

"  Letters,"  i.  50. 


Napoleon's  Organisation  of  Church  and  State, 
1860 

I  HAVE  had  to  look  a  good  deal  into  the  history  of 
the  present  French  organisation  in  Church  and  State, 
which  dates  from  the  first  Consulate  of  the  great 
Napoleon,  and  have  come  out  of  my  researches  with, 
if  possible,  a  higher  opinion  of  that  great  man  than 
ever.  The  way  in  which  he  held  the  balance  between 
old  and  new  France  in  reorganising  things  I  had  till 
now  had  no  idea  of,  nor  of  the  difficulties  which 
beset  him,  both  from  the  Revolution  party  and  the 
party  of  the  ancient  regime. 

"Letters,"  i.  114. 


The  American  Character  in  1860 
I  SEE  Bright  goes  on  envying  the  Americans,  but  I 
cannot  but  think  that  the  state  of  things  with 
respect  to  their  national  character,  which,  after  all, 
is  the  base  of  the  only  real  grandeur  or  prosperity, 
becomes  graver  and  graver.  It  seems  as  if  few 
stocks  could  be  trusted  to  grow  up  properly  without 
having  a  priesthood  and  an  aristocracy  to  act  as 


14  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

their  schoolmasters  at  some  time  or  other  of  their 
national  existence. 

"Letters,"  i.  115. 

Reading-books  and  Culture 

THE  candour  with  which  school  inspectors  in  France 
avowed  to  me  their  dissatisfaction  with  the  school- 
books  in  use  there,  led  me  to  reflect  on  the  great 
imperfection  exhibited  by  our  school-books  also.  I 
found  in  the  French  schools  good  manuals  for  teach- 
ing special  subjects — a  good  manual  for  teaching 
arithmetic,  a  good  manual  for  teaching  grammar, 
a  good  manual  for  teaching  geography ;  what  was 
wanting  there,  as  it  is  wanting  with  us,  was  a  good 
reading-book,  or  course  of  reading-books.  It  is  not 
enough  remembered  in  how  many  cases  his  reading- 
book  forms  the  whole  literature,  except  his  Bible, 
of  the  child  attending  a  primary  school.  If  then, 
instead  of  literature,  his  reading-book,  as  is  too 
often  the  case,  presents  him  with  a  jejune  encyclo- 
paedia of  positive  information,  the  result  is  that  he 
has,  except  his  Bible,  no  literature,  no  humanising 
instruction  at  all.  If,  again,  his  reading-book,  as 
is  also  too  often  the  case,  presents  him  with  bad 
literature  instead  of  good — with  the  writing  of 
second  or  third-rate  authors,  feeble,  incorrect,  and 
colourless — he  has  not,  as  the  rich  have,  the  correc- 
tive of  an  abundance  of  good  literature  to  counter- 
act the  bad  effect  of  trivial  and  ill- written  school- 
books  ;  the^second  or  third-rate  literature  of  his 
school-book  remains  for  him  his  sole,  or,  at  least, 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  15 

his  principal  literary  standard.  Dry  scientific  dis- 
quisitions, and  literary  compositions  of  an  inferior 
order,  are  indeed  the  worst  possible  instruments  for 
teaching  children  to  read  well.  But  besides  the 
fault  of  not  fulfilling  this,  their  essential  function 
the  ill-compiled  reading-books  I  speak  of  have,  I  say, 
for  the  poor  scholar,  the  graver  fault  of  actually 
doing  what  they  can  to  spoil  his  taste,  when  they 
are  nearly  his  only  means  for  forming  it.  I  have 
seen  school-books  belonging  to  the  cheapest,  and 
therefore  most  popular  series  in  use  in  our  primary 
schools,  in  which  far  more  than  half  of  the  poetical 
extracts  were  the  composition  either  of  the  anonymous 
compilers  themselves,  or  of  American  writers  of  the 
second  and  third  order  ;  and  these  books  were  to  be 
some  poor  child's  Anthology  of  a  literature  so  varied 
and  so  powerful  as  the  English  !  To  this  defective- 
ness  of  our  reading-books  I  attribute  much  of  that 
grave  and  discouraging  deficiency  in  anything  like 
literary  taste  and  feeling,  which  even  well-in- 
structed pupil-teachers  of  four  or  five  years'  training, 
which  even  the  ablest  students  in  our.  training 
schools,  still  continue  almost  invariably  to  exhibit ; 
a  deficiency,  to  remedy  which,  the  progressive 
development  of  our  school  system,  and  the  very 
considerable  increase  of  information  among  the 
people,  appear  to  avail  little  or  nothing.  I  believe 
that  nothing  would  so  much  contribute  to  remedy 
it  as  the  diffusion  in  our  elementary  schools  of 
reading-books  of  which  the  contents  were  really  well 
selected  and  interesting.  Such  lessons  would  be  far 
better  adapted  than  a  treatise  on  the  atmosphere, 


16  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

the  steam-engine,  or  the  pump,  to  attain  the  proper 
end  of  a  reading-book,  that  of  teaching  scholars  to 
read  well ;  they  would  also  afford  the  best  chance  of 
inspiring  quick  scholars  with  a  real  love  for  reading 
and  literature  in  the  only  way  in  which  such  a  love  is 
ever  really  inspired,  by  animating  and  moving  them  ; 
and  if  they  succeeded  in  doing  this,  they  would  have 
this  further  advantage,  that  the  literature  for  which 
they  inspired  a  taste  would  be  a  good,  a  sound,  and  a 
truly  refining  literature  ;  not  a  literature  such  as  that 
of  most  of  the  few  attractive  pieces  in  our  current 
reading-books,  a  literature  over  which  no  cultivated 
person  would  dream  of  wasting  his  time. 

General  Report,  1860. 

State  Interference  in  Education 

THE  wish  for  a  more  deliberate  and  systematically 
reasoned  action  on  the  part  of  the  State  in  dealing, 
with  education  in  this  country  is  more  than  once 
expressed  or  implied  in  the  following  pages.  In 
this  introduction  I  propose  to  submit  to  those  who 
have  been  accustomed  to  regard  all  State-action 
with  jealousy,  some  reasons  for  thinking  that  the 
circumstances  which  once  made  that  jealousy  prudent 
and  natural  have  undergone  an  essential  change.  I 
desire  to  lead  them  to  consider  with  me,  whether, 
in  the  present  altered  conjuncture,  that  State- 
action,  which  was  once  dangerous,  may  not  become, 
not  only  without  danger  in  itself,  but  the  means  of 
helping  us  against  dangers  from  another  quarter. 

«« The  Popular  Education  of  France  with  Notices  of  that  of  Holland 
and  Switzerland,"  p.  xii,  .     ' 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  17 


Character  of  the  Masses  in  France 

THE  common  people,  in  France,  seem  to  me  the 
soundest  part  of  the  French  nation.  They  seem  to 
me  more  free  from  the  two  opposite  degradations  of 
multitudes,  brutality  and  servility  ;  to  have  a  more 
developed  human  life,  more  of  what  distinguishes 
elsewhere  the  cultured  classes  from  the  vulgar,  than 
the  common  people  in  any  other  country  with  which 
I  am  acquainted. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  xxi. 


Causes  of  the  Power  of  France 

THE  power  of  France  in  Europe  is  at  this  day  mainly 
owing  to  the  completeness  with  which  she  has 
organised  democratic  institutions.  The  action  of 
the  French  State  is  excessive  ;  but  it  is  too  little 
understood  in  England  that  the  French  people  has 
adopted  this  action  for  its  own  purposes,  has  in 
great  measure  attained  those  purposes  by  it,  and 
owes  to  having  done  so  the  chief  part  of  its  influence 
in  Europe.  The  growing  power  in  Europe  is  demo- 
cracy ;  and  France  has  organised  democracy  with 
a  certain  indisputable  grandeur  and  success.  The 
ideas  of  1789  were  working  everywhere  in  the 
eighteenth  century ;  but  it  was  because  in  France 
the  State  adopted  them  that  the  French  Revolution 
became  an  historic  epoch  for  the  world,  and  France 
the  lodestar  of  Continental  democracy. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  xxii, 

C 


18  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Democracy's  Lack  of  Ideals 

ENGLISH  democracy  runs  no  risk  of  being  over- 
mastered by  the  State ;  it  is  almost  certain  that  it 
will  throw  off  the  tutelage  of  aristocracy.  Its  real 
danger  is,  that  it  will  have  far  too  much  its  own  way, 
and  be  left  far  too  much  to  itself.  "  What  harm 
will  there  be  in  that  ?  "  say  some  :  "  are  we  not  a 
self-governing  people  ?  "  I  answer  :  "  We  have 
never  yet  been  a  self-governing  democracy,  or  anything 
like  it."  The  difficulty  for  democracy  is,  how  to 
find  and  keep  high  ideals.  The  individuals  who 
compose  it  are,  the  bulk  of  them,  persons  who  need 
to  follow  an  ideal,  not  to  set  one  ;  and  one  ideal  of 
greatness,  high  feeling  and  fine  culture,  which  an 
aristocracy  once  supplied  to  them,  they  lose  by  the 
very  fact  of  ceasing  to  be  a  lower  order  and  becoming 
a  democracy.  Nations  are  not  truly  great  solely  be- 
cause the  individuals  composing  them  are  numerous, 
free,  and  active ;  but  they  are  great  when  these 
numbers,  this  freedom,  and  this  activity  are  em- 
ployed in  the  service  of  an  ideal  somewhat  higher 
than  that  of  an  ordinary  man,  taken  by  himself. 
Not  only  the  greatness  of  nations,  but  their  very 
unity,  depends  on  this.  In  fact,  unless  a  nation's 
action  is  inspired  by  an  ideal  commanding  the 
respect  of  the  many  as  higher  than  each  ordinary 
man's  own,  there  is  nothing  to  keep  that  nation 
together,  nothing  to  resist  the  dissolvent  action  of 
innumerable  and  conflicting  wills  and  opinions. 
Quot  homines,  tot  sententiae,  and  one  man's  opinion 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  19 

is  as  good  as  another's — there  is  no  basis  for  a  real 
unity  here. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  xxxii. 


The  Lack  of  Public  Schools  for  the  Middle 
Class 

THE  aristocratic  classes  in  England  may,  perhaps, 
be  well  content  to  rest  satisfied  with  their  Eton  and 
Harrow ;  the  State  is  not  likely  to  do  better  for 
them  ;  nay,  the  superior  confidence,  spirit,  and  style, 
engendered  by  a  training  in  the  great  public  schools, 
constitute  for  these  classes  a  real  privilege,  a  real 
engine  of  command,  which  they  might,  if  they  were 
selfish,  be  sorry  to  lose  by  the  establishment  of 
schools  great  enough  to  beget  a  like  spirit  in  the 
classes  below  them.  But  the  middle  classes  in 
England  have  every  reason  not  to  remain  content 
with  their  private  schools  ;  the  State  can  do  a  great 
deal  better  for  them  ;  by  giving  to  schools  for  these 
classes  a  public  character,  it  can  bring  the  instruction 
in  them  under  a  criticism  which  the  knowledge  of 
these  classes  is  not  in  itself  at  present  able  to  supply  ; 
by  giving  to  them  a  national  character,  it  can  confer 
on  them  a  greatness  and  a  noble  spirit,  which  the 
tone  of  these  classes  is  not  in  itself  at  present  adequate 
to  impart.  Such  schools  would  soon  prove  notable 
competitors  with  the  existing  public  schools :  they 
would  do  these  a  great  service  by  stimulating  them, 
and  making  them  look  into  their  own  weak  points 
more  closely :  economical,  because  with  charges 


20  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

uniform  and  under  severe  revision,  they  would  do 
a  great  service  to  that  large  body  of  persons,  who, 
at  present,  seeing  that  on  the  whole  the  best  secon  • 
dary  instruction  to  be  found  is  that  of  the  existing' 
public  schools,  obtain  it  for  their  children  from  a 
sense  of  duty,  although  they  can  ill  afford  it,  and 
although  its  cost  is  certainly  exorbitant.  Thus  the 
middle  classes  might,  by  the  aid  of  the  State,  better 
their  instruction,  while  still  keeping  its  cost  moderate. 
This  in  itself  would  be  a  gain  ;  but  this  gain  would 
be  nothing  in  comparison  with  that  of  acquiring  the 
sense  of  belonging  to  great  and  honourable  seats  of 
learning,  and  of  breathing  in  their  youth  the  air  of 
the  best  culture  of  their  nation.  This  sense  would 
be  an  educational  influence  for  them  of  the  highest 
value ;  it  would  really  augment  their  self-respect 
and  moral  force  ;  it  would  truly  fuse  them  with  the 
class  above,  and  tend  to  bring  about  for  them  the 
equality  which  they  desire. 

"The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  xl. 


Culture  and  Character  united  in  Athens 

IN  modern  epochs,  the  part  of  a  high  reason,  of 
ideas,  acquires  constantly  increasing  importance  in 
the  conduct  of  the  world's  affairs.  A  fine  culture 
is  the  complement  of  a  high  reason,  and  it  is  in  the 
conjunction  of  both  with  character,  with  energy,  that 
the  ideal  for  men  and  nations  is  placed.  It  is 
common  to  hear  remarks  on  the  frequent  divorce 
between  culture  and  character,  and  to  infer  from 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  21 

this  that  culture  is  a  mere  varnish,  and  that  character 
only  deserves  any  serious  attention.     No  error  can 
be  more  fatal :    culture  without  character  is,  no 
doubt,  something  frivolous,  vain,  and  weak,  but 
character  without  culture  is,  on  the  other  hand, 
something  raw,  blind,  and  dangerous  :    the  most 
interesting,  the  most  truly  glorious  peoples,  are  those 
in  which  the  alliance  of  the  two  has  been  effected 
most  successfully,  and  its  result  spread  most  widely. 
This  is  why  the  spectacle  of  ancient  Athens  has  such 
profound  interest  for  a  rational  man  ;  that  it  is  the 
spectacle  of  the  culture  of  a  people.    It  is  not  an 
aristocracy  leavening  with  its  own  high  spirit  the 
multitude  which  it  wields,  but  leaving  it  the  un- 
formed multitude  still ;  it  is  not  a  democracy,  acute 
and  energetic,  but  tasteless,   narrow-minded,   and 
ignoble ;    it  is  the  middle  and  lower  classes  in  the 
highest  development  of  their  humanity  that  these 
classes  have  yet  reached.     It  was  the  many  who 
relished  these  arts,  who  were  not  satisfied  with  less 
than  those  monuments ;    in  the  conversations  re- 
corded by  Plato,  or  by  the  matter-of-fact  Xenophon, 
which  for  the  free  yet  refined  discussion  of  ideas 
have  set  the  tone  for  the  whole  cultivated  world, 
shopkeepers  and  tradesmen  of  Athens  mingle  as 
speakers.    For  any  one  but  a  pedant,  this  is  why 
a  handful  of  Athenians  of  two  thousand  years  ago 
are   more   interesting   than   the   millions   of  most 
nations  our  contemporaries.     Surely,  if  they  knew 
this,  those  friends  of  progress,  who  have  confidently 
pronounced  the  remains  of  the  ancient  world  so  much 
lumber,   and  a  classical  education  an  aristocratic 


22  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

impertinence,  might  be  inclined  to  reconsider  their 
sentence. 

"The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  xliii. 

French  Administrative  Divisions  in   1859 

(FRANCE  contains,  according  to  the  last  census,  a 
population  of  36,039,364  inhabitants.)  Its  86  de- 
partments have,  for  administrative  purposes,  a 
division  which  it  will  often  be  necessary,  in  reading 
what  follows,  to  bear  in  mind.  Each  department  is 
divided  into  arrondissements ;  each  arrondissement 
is  subdivided  into  cantons  and  communes.  There 
are  363  arrondissements  in  France,  2850  cantons, 
36,826  communes. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  pp.  5,  9. 

Over  Government  and  Under  Government 

I  BELIEVE,  as  every  Englishman  believes,  that  over- 
government  is  pernicious  and  dangerous  ;  that  the 
State  cannot  safely  be  trusted  to  undertake  every- 
thing, to  superintend  everywhere.  But,  having  once 
made  this  profession  of  faith,  I  shall  proceed  to  point 
out  as  may  be  necessary,  without  perpetually  repeat- 
ing it,  some  inconveniences  of  under-government ;  to 
call  attention  to  certain  important  particulars,  in 
which,  within  the  domain  of  a  single  great  question, 
that  of  public  education,  the  direct  action  of  the 
State  has  produced  salutary  and  enviable  results. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  I  r. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  23 

The  Christian  Brothers'  School 

IN  1789  the  religious  societies  engaged  in  teaching 
the  poor  of  France  were  twenty  in  number ;  but 
the  religious  society  which  has  prosecuted  this  work 
most  effectually,  which  has  most  merited  gratitude 
by  its  labours  for  the  education  of  the  poor,  and 
which,  at  the  present  day,  most  claims  attention 
from  its  numbers  and  from  its  influence,  is  undoubt- 
edly the  society  of  the  "  Brethren  of  the  Christian 
Schools." 

The  brethren  are  enjoined  by  their  statutes  to 
devote  themselves  to  the  instruction  of  boys  in  all 
things  that  pertain  to  an  honest  and  Christian  life. 
They  are  not  forbidden  to  receive  the  rich  into  their 
schools,  but  their  principal  business  is  to  be  with 
the  poor,  and  to  their  poorer  scholars  they  are  to 
extend  a  special  affection.  They  are  to  obey  a 
Superior-General,  who,  with  two  assistants,  is  to  be 
elected  by  the  assembled  directors  of  the  principal 
houses.  The  Superior-General  is  chosen  for  life, 
the  assistants  for  ten  years.  The  separate  houses 
are  to  be  governed  by  directors,  chosen  for  three 
years.  No  brother  is  to  take  holy  orders.  Their 
vows,  which  are  for  three  years  only,  are  the  three 
regular  vows  of  chastity,  poverty,  and  obedience, 
with  another  of  stability,  and  of  teaching  without  fee 
or  reward.  Even  these  three-year  vows  they  are 
not  permitted  to  make  until  they  have  been  members 
of  the  institute  two  years,  one  of  which  is  passed  in 
the  noviciate,  the  other  in  a  school.  They  are 
always  to  go  in  company  with  others  of  their  order  ; 


24  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

at  first  they  went  in  parties  of  two,  now  they  must 
be  at  least  three.  Together  with  religious  know- 
ledge they  are  to  teach  their  scholars  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic.  They  are  to  have  in  each 
of  their  houses  a  store  of  school-books  and  school- 
material,  which  they  are  to  sell  to  their  scholars  at 
the  cost  price.  They  are  not  to  talk  or  gossip  with 
their  scholars,  or  to  hear  any  news  from  them. 
They  are  to  be  sparing  of  punishments.  The 
director  of  each  house  is  to  have  the  inspection  of 
the  schools  in  connection  with  it. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  pp.  14,  16. 


Schools  Founded  by  the  Convention 

IT  was  the  Convention  which  endowed  France  with 
two  admirable  institutions,  of  which  the  vitality 
has  proved  not  less  great  than  the  usefulness — the 
Normal  School  and  the  Polytechnic  School. 

"The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  24. 

Educational  Results  of  the  French  Revolution 

"  WHAT,"  I  ventured  to  ask  M.  Guizot,  "  did  the 
French  Revolution  contribute  to  the  cause  of  popular 
education  ?  "  "  Un  deluge  de  mots,"  replied  M. 
Guizot,  "  rien  de  plus  !  "  As  regards  the  material 
establishment  of  popular  instruction,  this  is  un- 
questionably true.  Yet  on  its  future  character  and 
regulation  the  Revolution,  as  unquestionably,  exer- 
cised an  influence  which  every  Frenchman  takes  it 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  25 

for  granted  that  an  inquirer  understands,  and  which 
we  in  England  must  not  overlook.  It  established 
certain  conditions  under  which  any  future  system 
of  popular  education  must  inevitably  constitute 
itself.  It  made  it  impossible  for  any  Government  of 
France  to  found  a  system  which  was  not  lay,  and 
which  was  not  national. 

ft  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  29. 


Napoleon  as  Educator 

FOR  the  feeble  and  decaying  central  schools  of  the 
Convention  * — mere  courses  of  lectures,  without  hold 
on  their  pupils,  without  discipline,  and  without 
study — the  new  law  substituted  the  communal 
colleges  and  the  lyceums,  with  boarders,  with  a 
rigid  discipline,  and  with  a  sustained  course  of 
study;  institutions  which  do  not,  indeed,  give  an 
education  equal  to  that  of  our  best  public  schools, 
but  which  extend  to  all  the  middle  classes  of  France 
an  education  which  our  public  schools  give  to  the 
upper  classes  only.  For  the  exclusively  mathe- 
matical and  scientific  course  of  the  revolutionary 
theorists,  it  substituted,  but  with  proper  enlarge- 
ment, that  bracing  classical  course  which  the  ex- 
perience of  generations  has  consecrated,  and  which 
Napoleon,  though  he  had  not  himself  undergone  it, 
had  the  power  of  mind  to  appreciate.  Finally, 
by  the  establishment  of  6400  scholarships,  fairly 

*  The  law  of  the  third  Brumaire,  year  four,  had  decreed  one  for  each 
department.  In  1802  only  thirty-two  were  found  to  have  had  any 
success.  These  thirty-two  were  the  first  Lycles  under  the  new  law. 


26  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

distributed,  it  opened  an  access  as  wide  as  was 
possible,  or  even  desirable,  to  the  schools  which  it 
created. 

Only  the  first  chapter  of  the  law  of  1802  related 
to  primary  schools.  This  merely  repeated  the  humble 
provisions  of  the  last  law  of  the  Convention.  The 
Commune  was  to  furnish  a  schoolhouse  to  the 
teacher,  who  still,  after  this  was  supplied  to  him, 
had  to  depend  for  his  support  upon  the  payments  of 
his  scholars.  The  number  of  these  to  be  exempted, 
on  the  ground  of  poverty,  from  the  school-fee,  was 
reduced  from  a  fourth  to  a  fifth.  The  superin- 
tendence of  the  teacher  by  the  municipal  authorities 
was  confirmed.  Finally,  the  schools  were  placed 
under  the  supreme  charge  of  the  newly  created 
departmental  executive,  the  sub-prefects  and  the 
prefects. 

Small  as  was  the  attention  then  bestowed  on 
schools  for  the  poor,  in  comparison  with  that  which 
at  a  later  time  they  received,  it  is  curious  to  remark 
how  strongly  the  inconvenience  of  their  total  dis- 
organisation was  felt  in  the  French  provinces,  as 
long  ago  as  the  beginning  of  this  century.  It  seems 
as  if,  rude  and  illiterate  as  was  the  village-school  of 
France  before  the  Revolution,  its  disappearance 
could  leave  a  blank  as  serious  as  the  blank  which 
the  disappearance  of  the  village-school  would  leave 
now.  In  its  endeavour  to  bring  order  out  of  the 
chaos  which  the  Revolution  had  left,  the  Consular 
Government  invited  in  iSoithe  practical  suggestions 
of  the  council-general  of  each  department  upon  the 
wants  of  the  locality.  The  councils-general,  in  their 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  27 

replies,  expressed,  among  other  things,  the  greatest 
dissatisfaction  at  the  state  of  the  primary  schools, 
and  the  greatest  desire  to  see  it  improved.  Many 
of  them  called  for  the  re-establishment  of  the 
religious  orders  devoted  to  teaching.  "  The  Brethren 
of  the  Christian  Doctrine,  the  Ursulines,  and  the 
rest,  are  much  regretted  here,"  says  the  council- 
general  of  the  Cote  d'Or.  That  of  the  Pas  de  Calais 
begs  the  Government  "  Again  to  employ  in  the 
instruction  of  boys  and  girls  the  Freres  ignorantins, 
and  the  Daughters  of  Charity,  and  of  Providence." 
That  of  the  Pyrenees  Orientales  says,  "  People  here 
regret  the  religious  associations  which  busied  them- 
selves in  teaching  the  children  of  the  poor."  That 
of  the  Aisne  asks,  like  that  of  the  Pas  de  Calais,  for 
the  "  reorganisation  of  the  religious  communities 
devoted  to  the  elementary  instruction  of  children  of 
each  sex."  To  commit  the  primary  instruction  of 
France  to  religious  corporations  was  at  no  time  the 
intention  of  Napoleon.  To  avail  himself  of  the 
services  of  these  corporations,  under  the  control  of 
a  lay  body,  modern  in  its  spirit,  and  national  in  its 
composition,  he  was  abundantly  willing.  Such  a 
body  he  designed  to  establish  in  his  new  University. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  pp.  31-33. 


Secondary  Education  in  England  and  France 

MY  limits  forbid  me  to  do  more  than  touch  on  this 
great  subject  of  secondary  instruction  ;  yet  to  touch 
on  it  for  one  moment  in  passing  I  cannot  forbear. 


28  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

I  saw  something  of  it ;   I  inquired  much  about  it ; 
had  I  not  done  so,  I  should  have  comprehended  the 
subject  of  French  primary  instruction  very  imper- 
fectly.    Let  me,   then,   be  permitted  to   call  the 
English  reader's  attention  to  the  advantage  France 
possesses  in  its  vast  system  of  public  secondary 
instruction ;    in  its  63  lyceums  and  244  communal 
colleges,  inspected  by  the  State,  aided  by  the  State,* 
drawing  from  this  connection  with  the  State  both 
efficiency  and  dignity  ;  and  to  which,  in  concert  with 
the  State,  the  departments,  the  communes,  private 
benevolence,  all  co-operate  to  provide  free  admission 
for  poor  and  deserving  scholars.     M.  de  Talleyrand 
truly  said  that  the  education  of  the  great  English 
public  schools  was  the  best  in  the  world.     He  added, 
to  be  sure,   that  even  this  was  detestable.    But 
allowing  it  all  its  merits,  how  small  a  portion  of  the 
population    does    it    embrace !     It    embraces    the 
aristocratic   class ;     it   embraces   the   higher   pro- 
fessional class ;    it  embraces  a  few  of  the  richest 
and  most  successful  of  the  commercial  class ;    of 
the  great  body  of  the  commercial  class  and  of  the 
immense  middle  classes  of  this  country,  it  embraces 
not  one.     They  are  left  to  an  education  which, 
though  among  its  professors  are  many  excellent  and 
honourable  men,  is  deplorable.     Our  middle  classes 
are  nearly  the  worst  educated  in  the  world.     But  it 
is  not  this  only ;  although,  when  I  consider  this,  all 
the  French  commonplaces  about  the  duty  of  the 

*  In  1855  the  grant  from  the  State  to  the  lyceums  was 
1,300,000  fr. ;  to  the  communal  colleges,  98,000  fr.  86  c. — 
"  Budget  de  1'Instruction  Publique,"  pp.  164,  167. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION          29 

State  to  protect  its  children  from  the  charlatanism 
and  cupidity  of  individual  speculation  seems  to  me 
to  be  justified.     It  is  far  more  that  a  great  oppor- 
tunity is  missed  of  fusing  all  the  upper  and  middle 
classes    into    one    powerful   whole,    elevating    and 
refining  the  middle   classes  by  the   contact,   and 
stimulating  the  upper.   /In  France  this  is  what  the 
:  system    of    public    education    effects ;     it    effaces 
/  between  the  upper  and  middle  classes  the  sense  of 
social   alienation ;     it   raises   the   middle   without 
dragging  down  the  upper ;  Jit  gives  to  the  boy  of 
the  middle  class  the  studies,  the  superior  teaching, 
the  proud  sense  of  belonging  to  a  great  school,  which 
the  Eton  or  Harrow  boy  has  with  us ;   it  tends  to 
give  to  the  middle  classes  precisely  what  they  most 
want,  and  their  want  of  which  is  the  great  gulf 
between  them  and  the  upper  ;  it  tends  to  give  them 
personal  dignity.    The  power  of  such  an  education 
is  seen  in  what  it  has    done  for  the  professional 
classes  in  England.    The  clergy  and  barristers,  who 
are  generally  educated  in  the  great  public  schools, 
are  nearly  identified  in  thought,  feeling,  and  manners 
with  the  aristocratic  class.     They  have  not  been 
unmixed  gainers  by  this  identification ;    it  has  too 
much  isolated  them  from  a  class  to  which  by  income 
and  social  position  they,  after  all,  naturally  belong, 
while  towards  the  highest  class  it  has  made  them, 
not  vulgarly  servile  certainly,  but  intellectually  too 
deferential — too  little  apt  to  maintain  perfect  mental 
independence  on  questions  where  the  prepossessions 
of   that   class   are   concerned.     Nevertheless,   they 
have,  as  a  class,  acquired  the  unspeakable  benefit 


30  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

of  that  elevation  of  the  mind  and  feelings  which  it 
is  the  best  office  of  superior  education  to  confer. 
But  they  have  bought  this  elevation  at  an  immense 
money-price — at  a  price  which  they  can  no  better 
than  the  commercial  classes  afford  to  pay;  which 
they  who  have  paid  it  long,  and  who  know  what  it 
has  bought  for  them,  will  continue  to  pay  while 
they  must,  but  which  the  middle  classes  will  never 
even  begin  to  pay.  When  I  told  the  French  Uni- 
versity authorities  of  the  amount  paid  for  a  boy's 
education  at  the  great  English  schools,  and  paid 
often  out  of  very  moderate  incomes,  they  exclaimed 
with  one  voice  that  to  demand  such  sacrifices  from 
French  parents  would  be  vain.  It  would  be  equally 
vain  to  demand  them  of  the  English  middle  classes. 
Either  their  education  must  remain  what  it  is,  vulgar 
and  unsound ;  or  the  State  must  create  by  its 
authorisation,  its  aid — above  all,  by  its  inspection — 
institutions  honourable  because  of  their  public 
character,  and  cheap  because  nationally  frequented, 
in  which  they  may  receive  a  better.  If  the  former 
happens,  then  this  great  English  middle  class,  grow- 
ing wealthier,  more  powerful,  more  stirring  every 
year,  will  every  year  grow  more  and  more  isolated 
in  sentiment  from  the  professional  and  aristocratic 
classes.  If  the  latter,  then  not  only  will  the  whole 
richer  part  of  our  rich  community  be  united  by  the 
strong  bond  of  a  common  culture,  but  the  establish- 
ment of  a  national  system  of  instruction  for  the 
poorer  part  of  the  community  will  have  been  rendered 
infinitely  easier.  In  fact,  the  French  middle  classes 
may  well  submit  to  be  taxed  for  the  education  of 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  31 

the  poor,  for  the  State  has  already  provided  for  their 
own.  But  already  there  are  loud  complaints  among 
the  lower  middling  classes  of  this  country  that  the 
Committee  of  Council  is  providing  the  poor  with 
better  schools  than  those  to  which  they  themselves 
have  access  ;  and  we  may  be  very  sure  that  any 
new  measure  which  proposes  to  do  much  for  the 
instruction  of  the  poor,  and  nothing  for  that  of  the 
middling  classes,  will  meet  with  discontent  and 
opposition  from  the  latter.  It  is  impossible  to  over- 
rate the  magnitude  of  this  question.  English 
superior  instruction  is  perhaps  intelligent  enough  to 
be  left  to  take  care  of  itself.  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
are  popularising  themselves  :  with  little  noise  and 
in  the  shade,  the  London  University  is  performing 
a  work  of  great  national  benefit.  At  any  rate, 
superior  instruction  is  the  efflorescence  and  luxury 
of  education  ;  it  is  comparatively  of  limited  im- 
portance. Secondary  education,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  of  the  widest  importance,  and  it  is  neither  or- 
ganised enough  nor  intelligent  enough  to  take  care 
of  itself.  The  Education  Commissioners  would 
excite,  I  am  convinced,  in  thousands  of  hearts  a 
gratitude  of  which  they  little  dream,  if,  in  presenting 
the  results  of  their  labours  on  primary  instruction, 
they  were  at  the  same  time  to  say  to  the  Govern- 
ment :  "  Regard  the  necessities  of  a  not  distant 
future,  and  organise  your  secondary  instruction." 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  pp.  74-77. 


32  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Mixed  Schools  in  France  and  Holland 

AMONG  the  39,600  public  boys'  schools,  17,000  are 
mixed,  that  is,  they  admit  girls  as  well  as  boys. 
The  number  of  mixed  schools  tends  continually  to 
diminish,  by  the  creation  of  separate  schools  for 
girls.  Although  M.  Cousin,  in  his  report  of  1833, 
calls  the  objection  to  mixed  schools  a  "  wide-spread 
error  which  makes  female  education  on  a  great  scale 
an  almost  insoluble  problem,"  and  directs  against 
it  the  whole  weight  of  his  authority,  the  objection 
has  not  ceased  to  gain  strength,  and  is  at  the  present 
day,  in  France,  almost  universal.  Upon  no  point, 
I  am  bound  to  say,  have  I  found  all  those  connected 
with  education  in  that  country  more  unanimous. 
In  Holland,  on  the  other  hand,  there  prevails  an 
equal  unanimity  in  favour  of  mixed  schools. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  81. 


Comparative  Expenditure  in  England  and  France 
in  1856 

IN  Great  Britain,  according  to  the  latest  returns, 
the  annual  expenditure  on  primary  instruction, 
properly  so  called,  was  about  £800,000.  Putting 
out  of  sight,  as  we  have  put  out  of  sight  in  the  case 
of  France,  the  value  received  for  this  expenditure 
in  the  shape  of  administration,  inspection,  etc.,  let 
us  ask  what  it  achieved  for  schools  and  scholars.  It 
maintained  no  schools,  but  it  aided,  we  will  assume, 
in  one  way  or  another,  all  the  schools  liable  to  in- 
spection ;  and  on  this  estimate,  which  is  exaggerated, 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  33 

it  aided  8461  primary  schools,  giving  instruction  to 
934,000  scholars  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  helped,  at  the 
outside,  8461  schools  to  exist,  and  it  helped  934,000 
children  to  receive  instruction.  In  France,  the 
same  grant  would  have  entirely  maintained  nearly 
25,000  schools,  and  to  more  than  a  million  and  a  half 
of  children  it  would  have  entirely  given  instruction. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  88. 


School-less  Children  in  France  and  England  in  1856 

I  COULD  not  discover  that  even  in  the  great  towns, 
where  population  is  thickest,  masses  of  poor  children 
anywhere  remained  without  instruction.  There  are 
cases  of  hardship,  such  as  those  which  I  have  men- 
tioned ;  but  I  should  mislead  the  English  reader  if  I 
allowed  him  to  think  that  I  found  in  any  French  city 
educational  destitution  such  as  that  of  the  21,025 
school-less  children  of  Glasgow,  such  as  that  of  the 
17,177  school-less  children  of  Manchester.  I  should 
mislead  him  if  I  let  him  think  that  I  found  in 
France,  or  that  I  believe  to  exist  in  France,  a  school- 
less  multitude  like  the  2,250,000  of  England. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  101. 


The  Sisters'   Schools  of  Paris 

APART  from  the  mere  instruction,  however,  there  is, 
even  in  Paris,  something  in  the  Sisters'  schools 
which  pleases  both  the  eye  and  the  mind,  and  which 
is  more  rarely  found  elsewhere.  There  is  the  fresh, 

D 


34  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

neat  schoolroom,  almost  always  cheerfuller,  cleaner, 
more  decorated  than  a  lay  schoolroom.  There  is 
the  orderliness  and  attachment  of  the  children. 
Finally,  there  is  the  aspect  of  the  Sisters  themselves, 
in  general  of  a  refinement  beyond  that  of  their  rank 
in  life  ;  of  a  gentleness  which  even  beauty  in  France 
mostly  lacks  ;  of  a  tranquillity  which  is  evidence 
that  their  blameless  lives  are  not  less  happy  than 
useful.  If  ever  I  have  beheld  serious  yet  cheerful 
benevolence,  and  the  serenity  of  the  mind  pictured 
on  the  face,  it  is  here. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  103. 


Needlework  Schools 

ATTACHED  to  the  same  establishment  is  an  asile- 
ouvroir,  or  needlework  school,  which  I  visited.  The 
schools  are  open  after  or  between  the  ordinary 
school-hours  ;  they  are  attended  by  girls  from  mixed 
schools  under  masters,  to  which  they  are  often 
annexed ;  by  girls  from  ordinary  girls'  schools,  of 
which  the  teacher  is  not  particularly  skilled  in 
needlework  ;  finally,  by  girls  who  attend  no  other 
school  at  all.  For  the  benefit  of  the  latter  a  little 
instruction  in  reading,  arithmetic  and  religious 
knowledge  is  added  to  the  lessons  in  sewing,  knitting, 
and  marking.  Embroidery  and  ornamental  work 
are  proscribed  by  law,  except  in  those  districts  of 
France  where  they  form  an  important  branch  of 
female  industry.  As  the  schools  are  open  only  for 
a  few  hours  in  each  day,  the  services  of  skilful 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  35 

teachers  can  be  secured  for  a  very  moderate  re- 
muneration. These  establishments,  which  are  of 
great  use,  and  which  have  had  no  small  share  in 
giving  to  French  needlewomen  their  superiority,  are 
unknown  as  a  school  institution  in  England. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  104. 


Inspection  of  Private  Schools 

HARDLY  anywhere  in  France  (in  this  the  reports  of 
all  the  inspectors  concur)  can  the  private  boys' 
schools,  whether  they  be  lay  or  congreganist,  hold 
their  own  in  the  competition  with  the  public  schools. 
The  private  girls' schools  kept  by  the  Sisters  are  more 
fortunate.  But  for  their  boys — although  even  in 
the  private  school  the  teacher  has  the  indispensable 
guarantee  of  the  certificate  of  capacity,  without 
which,  in  France,  no  man  may  teach — parents  un- 
doubtedly prefer  the  public  school  with  its  additional 
guarantees  of  a  public  character  and  a  more  detailed 
inspection.  To  State  inspection  all  private  schools 
are  subject ;  but  only  in  what  concerns  their  pro- 
vision for  the  bodily  health  and  comfort  of  the 
pupils,  and  their  maintenance  of  due  morality.  So 
strongly  do  these  establishments  feel  the  advantage 
conferred  by  the  publicity  and  stimulant  of  thorough 
inspection,  that  they  constantly  request  the  inspector 
to  extend  his  examination  from  their  school  premises 
to  their  school  instruction.  Generally  he  refuses, 
and  for  reasons  which  his  English  brethren  would 
do  well  to  remember.  "  If  T  find  the  instruction 


36  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

ever  so  bad  and  injudicious,"  he  says,  "  I  have  no 
power  to  get  it  changed ;  and  I  am  bound  to  give 
public  service  where  I  know  it  can  have  results." 
Many  an  English  squire,  in  like  manner,  wishes  for 
the  stimulant  of  inspection,  while  he  is  determined 
to  keep  his  school  entirely  independent.  In  other 
words,  he  wishes  to  have  an  inspector  down  from 
London  occasionally,  as  he  would  have  a  landscape- 
gardener  or  an  architect,  to  talk  to  him  about  his 
school,  to  hear  his  advice,  and  to  be  free  to  dismiss 
him,  as  he  might  dismiss  the  landscape-gardener  or 
the  architect,  the  moment  his  advice  becomes  un- 
palatable. He  wishes  to  have  a  public  functionary 
to  act  as  showman  to  his  school  once  a  year.  But 
it  is  not  for  this  that  the  State  pays  its  servants. 
State  supervision  is  useless  if  it  can  be  rejected  the 
moment  it  becomes  a  reality — the  moment  it  tends 
to  enforce  general  reason  against  individual  caprice. 
The  counsels  of  inspection,  to  be  of  any  real  worth, 
must  be  in  some  way  or  other  authoritative. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  pp.  105-106. 


Pupil-Teachers 

PUPIL-TEACHERS — the  sinews  of  English  primary 
instruction,  whose  institution  is  the  grand  merit  of 
our  English  State  system,  and  its  chief  title  to  public 
respect ;  this,  and  I  will  boldly  say,  the  honesty 
with  which  that  system  has  been  administered. 
Pupil-teachers — the  conception,  for  England,  of 
the  founder  of  English  popular  education,  of  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  37 

administrator  whose  conceptions  have  been  as  fruitful 
as  his  services  were  unworthily  maligned,  of  Sir 
James  Shuttleworth.  In  naming  them,  I  pause  to 
implore  all  friends  of  education  to  use  their  best 
efforts  to  preserve  this  institution  to  us  unimpaired. 
Let  them  entreat  ministerial  economy  to  respect  a 
pensioner  who  has  repaid  the  outlay  upon  him  a 
thousand  times ;  let  them  entreat  Chancellors  of 
the  Exchequer  to  lay  their  retrenching  hands  any- 
where but  here  ;  let  them  entreat  the  Privy  Council 
Office  to  propose  for  sacrifice  some  less  precious 
victim.  Forms  less  multiplied,  examinations  less 
elaborate,  inspectors  of  a  lower  grade — let  all  these 
reductions  be  endured  rather  than  that  the  number 
of  pupil-teachers  should  be  lessened.  If  these  are 
insufficient,  a  far  graver  retrenchment,  the  retrench- 
ment of  the  grants  paid  to  holders  of  our  certificates 
of  merit,  would  be  yet  far  less  grave  than  a  con- 
siderable loss  of  pupil-teachers.  A  certificate,  in- 
deed, is  properly  a  guarantee  of  capacity,  and  not 
an  order  for  money.  There  is  no  more  reason  that 
it  should  entitle  its  possessor  to  £20  than  that  it 
should  entitle  him  to  a  box  at  the  opera.  Private 
liberality  can  repair  the  salaries  of  the  schoolmasters, 
but  no  private  liberality  can  create  a  body  like  the 
pupil-teachers.  Neither  can  a  few  of  them  do  the 
work  of  many.  "  Classes  of  twenty-five  or  thirty, 
and  an  efficient  teacher  to  each  class  ;  "  that  school- 
system  is  the  best  which  inscribes  these  words  on 
its  banners. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  pp.  108-109, 


3«  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Inspectors  as  Civil  Servants 

WHEN  the  Concordat  was  under  discussion,  neither 
supplication  nor  adroitness  could  prevail  with 
Napoleon  to  give  to  the  State  itself  an  exclusively 
denominational  character ;  he  steadily  refused  to 
call  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  the  religion  of  the 
State ;  he  would  only  consent  to  call  it,  what  it 
undoubtedly  was,  the  religion  of  the  majority  of 
the  French  nation.  State  inspection  represents 
the  unity  of  the  civil  power,  not  the  divisions  of 
rival  sects.  It  takes  care  that  children  learn,  in 
the  public  schools,  each  the  doctrines  of  his  own 
religion  ;  but  it  protects  each,  in  learning  these, 
from  the  intolerance  of  the  other,  and  itself  remains 
neutral,  that  it  may  check  intolerance  the  better. 
The  State,  therefore,  owes  no  account  to  any  man 
of  the  religious  persuasion  of  its  inspectors  ;  for  it 
is  not  as  religious  sectaries  that  they  have  to 
discharge  their  duties,  but  as  civil  servants ;  and 
the  moment  they  begin  to  discharge  them  as  religious 
sectaries,  they  discharge  them  ill. 

*'  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  p.  147. 

Rational  Form  of  the  Code  Napoleon 

IT  is  not  a  light  thing  that  the  law,  which  speaks 
to  all  men,  should  speak  an  intelligible  human 
language,  and  speak  it  well.  Reason  delights  in 
rigorous  order,  lucid  clearness,  and  simple  statement. 
Reason  abhors  devious  intricacy,  confused  obscurity, 
and  prolix  repetition.  It  is  not  unimportant  to  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  39 

reason  of  a  nation,  whether  the  form  and  text  of  its 
laws  present  the  characters  which  reason  delights  in, 
or  the  characters  which  reason  abhors.  Certainly  the 
text  of  an  English  Act  of  Parliament  never  carried  to 
an  uneducated  English  mind  anything  but  bewilder- 
ment. I  have  myself  heard  a  French  peasant  quote 
the  Code  Napoleon  ;  it  is  in  every  one's  hands  ; 
it  is  its  rational  form,  hardly  less  than  its  rational 
spirit,  that  the  code  has  to  thank  for  a  popularity 
which  makes  half  the  nations  of  Europe  desirous 
to  adopt  it.  If  English  law  breathed  in  its  spirit 
the  wisdom  of  angels,  its  form  would  make  it  to 
foreign  nations  inaccessible.  The  style  and  diction 
of  all  the  modern  legislation  of  France  are  the  same 
as  those  of  the  Code.  Let  the  English  reader  com- 
pare, in  their  style  and  diction  alone,  M.  Guizot's 
education-law,  printed  at  the  end  of  this  volume, 
with  the  well-known  bill  of  a  most  sincere  and  intel- 
ligent friend  of  English  education,  Sir  John  Paking- 
ton.  Certainly  neither  was  the  French  law  drawn 
by  M.  Guizot  himself,  nor  the  English  bill  by  Sir 
John  Pakington  ;  each  speaks  the  current  language 
of  its  national  legislation.  But  the  French  law 
(with  a  little  necessary  formality,  it  is  true)  speaks 
the  language  of  modern  Europe ;  the  English  bill 
speaks  the  language  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  speaks 
it  ill.  I  assert  that  the  rational  intelligible  speech 
of  this  great  public  voice  of  her  laws  has  a  directly 
favourable  effect  upon  the  general  reason  and  in- 
telligence of  France. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  pp.  159-160. 


40  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Liberal  Spirit  of  French  Legislation 

FROM  the  form  I  pass  to  the  spirit.  With  still  more 
confidence  I  say:  It  is  not  a  light  thing  for  the 
reason  and  equity  of  a  nation  that  her  laws  should 
boldly  utter  prescriptions  which  are  reasonable  and 
equitable.  It  is  not  a  light  thing  for  the  spread, 
among  the  French  masses,  of  a  wise  and  moderate 
spirit  on  the  vital  and  vexed  questions  of  religion  and 
education,  that  the  law  of  1833  should  say  firmly  : 
Le  voeu  des  peres  de  famille  sera  toujours  consulte  et 
suivi  en  ce  qui  concerne  la  participation  de  leurs 
en/ants  a  I' instruction  religieuse.  It  is  not  a  light 
thing  that  the  whole  body  of  modern  French  legis- 
lation on  these  critical  questions  should  hold  a 
language  equally  firm,  equally  liberal.  To  this  it 
is  owing  that  in  a  sphere  where  the  popular  cry  in 
other  countries,  either  cannot  be  relied  on  or  is  sure 
to  be  wrong,  there  exists  in  France  a  genial  current 
of  sound  public  opinion,  blowing  steadily  in  the  right 
quarter.  To  this  it  is  owing  that  from  dangers 
which  perpetually  thwart  and  threaten  intellectual 
growth  in  other  countries,  intellectual  growth  in 
France  is  comparatively  secure.  To  this,  finally, 
it  is  owing  that  even  in  questions  beyond  this  sphere, 
if  they  assume  a  sufficient  generality,  and  do  not 
demand  a  large  knowledge  of  particular  facts,  of 
which  the  mass  of  Frenchmen  is  deplorably  ignorant, 
the  habit  of  intelligence  continues  in  the  French 
people  to  be  active  and  to  enlighten.  It  is  with 
truth  that  M.  Guizot  says  in  his  latest  work : 
"  C'est  la  grandeur  de  notre  pays  que  les  esprits 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  41 

ont  besoin  d'etre  satisfaits  en   mcme   temps  que  Ics 
intfrets."  * 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  pp.  160-161. 


The  State  as  the  Organ  of  the  National  Reason 

IN  dealing  with  education,  a  Government  must  often 
meet  with  questions  on  which  there  are  two  opposite 
opinions,  and  both  rational.  If  it  is  wise,  it  will 
invariably  treat  such  opinions  with  due  respect, 
and  will  be  guided,  in  deciding  between  them,  by 
the  character  of  the  times,  the  state  of  the  circum- 
stances, the  disposition  of  its  people.  Shall  public 
education  be  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy  or  in  the 
hands  of  the  laity  ?  Shall  the  instruction  given  in 
primary  schools  be  exclusively  secular,  or  shall  it  be 
also  religious  ?  Here  are  two  questions,  upon  each 
of  which  opposite  opinions,  both  having  a  ground  of 
reason,  may  fairly  be  maintained.  In  inclining  to 
either,  in  abandoning  its  own  inclinations  on  the  side 
of  either,  a  Government  may  be  taking  a  course 
which  reason  sanctions ;  at  any  rate  it  is  giving 
victory  or  defeat  to  arguments  of  which  reason  can 
take  cognisance.  The  national  intelligence  can  at 
least  follow  it  in  its  operations.  But  a  Government 
in  dealing  with  education,  will  also  sometimes  meet 
with  opinions  which  have  no  ground  in  reason, 
which  are  mere  crotchets,  or  mere  prejudices,  or 
mere  passions.  Will  it  have  the  clearness  of  vision 
to  discern  whether  they  are  such,  or  the  courage,  if 

*  MAnoires,  vol.  ii.  p  235. 


42  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

they  are,  to  treat  them  as  such  ? — that  is  the  ques- 
tion. Will  it  encourage  and  illuminate  the  national 
intelligence  by  firmly  treating  what  is  unintelligent 
as  unintelligent,  what  is  fanatical  as  fanatical,  in 
spite  of  the  loudness  with  which  it  maybe  clamoured ; 
or  will  it  wound  and  baffle  and  confuse  the  national 
intelligence  by  treating  what  is  unintelligent  as  if  it 
were  intelligent,  as  if  it  were  a  real  power,  as  re- 
spectfully to  be  parleyed  with  as  possible  to  be 
inclined  to,  as  reason  herself  ?  The  reader  will  be 
conscious  that  the  State  has  sometimes  followed,  in 
England,  the  latter  course. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  pp.  164-165. 


Society  Dislocated  by  the  Spread  of  Education 

EMINENT  personages  complained  to  me  that  already 
popular  education  in  France  was  carried  so  far  that 
society  began  to  be  dislocated  by  it ;  that  the 
labourer  would  no  longer  stay  in  his  field,  nor  the 
artisan  in  his  workshop  ;  that  every  labourer  would 
be  an  artisan,  every  artisan  a  clerk.  This  is  the 
language  which  we  have  all  heard  so  often,  from 
those  who  think  that  the  development  of  society  can 
be  arrested  because  a  farmer's  wife  finds  it  hard  to 
get  a  cookmaid.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  to  those 
who  hold  it,  that  it  is  vain  for  them  to  expect  that 
the  lower  classes  will  be  kind  enough  to  remain 
ignorant  and  unbettered  merely  for  the  sake  of 
saving  them  inconvenience. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc.,"  pp.  166-167. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  43 

The  Value  of  Ideals  to  a  Nation 

THE  two  grand  banes  of  humanity,  says  Spinoza, 
are  indolence  and  self-conceit ;  self-conceit  is  so 
noxious  because  it  arrests  man  in  the  career  of  self- 
improvement  ;  because  it  vulgarises  his  character 
and  stops  the  growth  of  his  intellect.  The  Greek 
oracle  pronounced  wisest  of  men,  him  who  was  most 
convinced  of  his  own  ignorance  :  what,  then,  can 
be  the  wisdom  of  a  nation  profoundly  convinced  of 
its  own  attainment  ?  After  all  that  has  been  said, 
it  remains  immutably  true  that  "  a  little  knowledge 
is  a  dangerous  thing,"  unless  he  who  possesses  it 
knows  that  it  is  a  little  ;  and  that  he  may  know  this, 
it  is  almost  indispensable  for  him  to  have  before  his 
eyes  objects  which  suggest  heights  of  grandeur,  or 
intellect,  or  feeling,  or  refinement,  which  he  has 
never  reached.  .  .  . 

The  proud  day  of  priesthoods  and  aristocracies 
is  over,  but  in  their  day  they  have  undoubtedly 
been,  as  the  law  was  to  the  Jews,  schoolmasters  to 
the  nations  of  Europe,  schoolmasters  to  bring  them 
to  modern  society  ;  and  so  dull  a  learner  is  man,  so 
rugged  and  hard  to  teach,  that  perhaps  those  nations 
which  keep  their  schoolmasters  longest  are  the  most 
enviable.  The  great  ecclesiastical  institutions  of 
Europe,  with  their  stately  cathedrals,  their  imposing 
ceremonial,  their  affecting  services ;  the  great 
aristocracies  of  Europe,  with  their  lustre  of  descent, 
their  splendour  of  wealth,  their  reputation  for  grace 
and  refinement,  have  undoubtedly  for  centuries 
served  as  ideals  to  ennoble  and  elevate  the  sentiment 


L  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

pi  the  European  masses.l  Assuredly,  churches  and 
/aristocracies  often  lacked  the  sanctity  or  the  refine- 
ment ascribed  to  them  ;  but  their  effect  as  distant 
ideals  was  still  the  same  ;  they  remained  above  the 
individual,  a  beacon  to  the  imagination  of  thousands  ; 
they  stood,  vast  and  grand  objects,  ever  present 
before  the  eyes  of  masses  of  men  in  whose  daily 
avocations  there  was  little  which  was  vast,  little 
which  was  grand  ;  and  they  preserved  these  masses 
from  any  danger  of  overrating  with  vulgar  self- 
satisfaction  an  inferior  culture,  however  broadly 
sown,  by  the  exhibition  of  a  standard  of  dignity  and 
refinement  still  far  above  them.  I 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc."  pp.  168-169. 

The  Elimination  of  Superiorities 

IT  is  the  spirit  in  which  highly-instructed  peoples 
live  and  work  that  makes  them  interesting,  not  the 
high  instruction  itself.  Placed  between  France  and 
Germany,  Switzerland  is  inevitably  exposed  to 
influences  which  tend  to  prevent  her  democracy  from 
exercising,  unchecked,  the  pulverising  action  which 
democracy  exercises  in  America.  But  the  dominant 
tendency  in  modern  Swiss  democracy  is  yet  not  to 
be  regarded  without  disquietude.  It  is  socialistic, 
in  the  sense  in  which  that  word  expresses  a  principle 
hostile  to  the  interests  of  true  society — the  elimina- 
tion of  superiorities.  The  most  distinguished,  the 
most  capable,  the  most  high-minded  persons  in 
French  Switzerland,  are  precisely  those  most  ex- 
cluded from  the  present  direction  of  affairs ;  they 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION       45 

are  living  in  retirement.  Instruction  may  spread 
wide  among  a  people  which  thus  ostracises  all  its 
best  citizens  ;  but  it  will  with  difficulty  elevate  it. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc,"  p.  192. 


Excellence  of  Primary  Schools  in  Holland 

CUVIER  has  described  the  emotion  of  astonishment 
and  delight  with  which  on  his  first  entrance  into  one 
of  them  he  was  struck ;  so  unlike  was  it  to  any 
school  for  the  poor  which  he  had  ever  seen,  or  which 
at  that  time  was  anywhere  to  be  seen  out  of  Holland. 
For  it  was  in  1811. 

The  popular  instruction  of  other  countries  has 
grown  up  since  that  time  ;  but  I  have  seen  no  primary 
schools  worthy  to  be  matched,  even  now,  with  those 
of  Holland. 

The  provincial  governments  fixed  the  teacher's 
salary  for  each  province  at  a  rate  which  made  the 
position  of  the  Dutch  schoolmaster  superior  to  that 
of  his  class  in  every  other  country.  Free  schools 
for  the  poor  were  provided  in  all  the  large  towns  ; 
in  the  villages,  schools  which  taught  the  poor 
gratuitously,  but  imposed  a  small  admission-fee  on 
those  who  could  afford  to  pay  it.  Ministers  of 
religion  and  lay  authorities  combined  their  efforts 
to  draw  the  children  into  the  schools.  The  boards 
which  distributed  public  relief,  imposed  on  its 
recipients  the  condition  that  they  should  send  their 
children  to  school.  The  result  was  a  popular 


46  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

education,  which,  for  extent  and  solidity  combined, 
has  probably  never  been  equalled. 

"  The   Popular   Education   of  France,    etc.,"    (Holland) 
pp.  195-196,  201. 

The  Society  for  the  Public  Good 

IN  1784,  John  Nieuvenhuysen,  a  Memnonite  minister 
in  North  Holland,  founded,  with  the  assistance  of 
several  friends,  the  Society  for  the  Public  Good. 
The  society  purposed,  first,  to  prepare  and  circulate 
among  the  common  people  useful  elementary  works, 
not  only  on  religious  and  moral  subjects,  but  also 
on  matters  of  everyday  life.  This  first  object  it 
accomplished  with  such  success,  that  in  two  or  three 
years  an  improved  calendar  published  by  the 
society  beat  the  popular  calendar,  a  tissue  of 
absurdities  and  superstitions,  the  Moore's  Almanack 
of  Holland,  out  of  the  field.  The  society's  second 
object  was  to  establish  model  and  temporary 
schools,  with  libraries,  for  the  use  of  workpeople  who 
had  left  school.  It  purposed,  thirdly,  to  conduct 
inquiries  into  the  true  principles  of  the  physical  and 
moral  education  of  children,  and  into  school  method. 
The  society  prospered.  In  1809  it  numbered 
7000  members,  and  had  spread  its  operations  as 
far  as  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

"  The   Popular   Education   of   France,    etc.,"   (Holland) 
pp.  197-198. 

Organised  School  Inspection  in  Holland 

To  organise  inspection : — this  is,  in  fact,  the  grand 
object  of  the  law  of  1806 ;   with  this  it  begins,  and 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  47 

with  this  it  ends.  To  keep  the  system  of  inspection 
efficient  was  the  central  thought,  the  paramount 
aim  of  its  author,  up  to  the  very  last  days  of  his 
life,  when,  a  venerable  old  man,  he  received  M. 
Cousin  at  Haarlem  in  1836,  and  said  to  him  :  "  Take 
care  how  you  choose  your  inspectors  ;  they  are 
men  whom  you  ought  to  look  for  with  a  lantern  in 
your  hand."  And  inspection  in  Holland  was 
organised  with  a  force  and  completeness  which  it 
has  attained  nowhere  else. 

"  The   Popular   Education  of   France,  etc.,"   (Holland) 
p.  199. 


Position  and  Character  of  Dutch  Teachers 
FINALLY,  and  this  M.  Cuvier  justly  thought  one  of 
the  grand  causes  of  the  success  of  the  Dutch  schools, 
the  position  of  the  schoolmasters  was  most  advan- 
tageous. Municipalities  and  parents  were  alike 
favourable  to  them,  and  held  them  and  their  pro- 
fession in  an  honour  which  then,  probably,  fell  to 
their  lot  nowhere  else.  Hardly  a  village  schoolmaster 
was  to  be  found  with  a  salary  of  less  than  £40  a  year  ; 
in  the  towns  many  had  from  £120  to  £160,  and  even 
more  than  that  sum  ;  all  had,  besides,  a  house  and 
garden.  The  fruits  of  this  comfort  and  considera- 
tion were  to  be  seen,  as  they  are  remarkably  to  be 
seen  even  at  the  present  day,  in  the  good  manners, 
the  good  address,  the  self-respect  without  presump- 
tion, of  the  Dutch  teachers.  They  are  never  servile, 
and  never  offensive. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of    France,  etc.,"    (Holland) 
pp.  202-203. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 


Teachers'  Examination  in  Holland 

THE  examination  for  the  higher  grades  was  con- 
siderably higher  than  the  certificate  examination 
of  France,  considerably  lower  than  ours,  for  which, 
indeed,  with  its  twelve  hours  of  written  exercises  of 
mathematics  alone,*  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  a 
parallel.  But  the  Dutch  regulation,  instructing 
the  examiners  to  admit  to  the  highest  grade  those 
candidates  only  who  gave  signs  of  a  distinguished 
culture,  assigned  to  the  schoolmaster's  training  a 
humanising  and  educating  direction,  which  is 
precisely  what  we,  with  our  exaggerated  demand 
for  masses  of  hard  information,  have  completely 
missed.  School  methods  also  and  pedagogic  aptitude 
occupied  more  space  in  the  Dutch  examination  than 
in  the  French  or  in  ours. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc,"  p.  203. 


Pupil-Teachers  in  Holland 

THE  legislation  of  1806  did  not  institute  normal 
schools.  How,  then,  was  an  efficient  body  of  school- 
masters formed  ?  It  was  formed  by  permitting,  in 
the  schools  of  the  Society  for  the  Public  Good,  the 
best  scholars  to  stay  on  at  school  for  two  or  three 
years  longer  than  usual,  without  paying,  on  con- 
dition that  they  acted  as  teachers  :  these  became, 

*  Lately  reduced,  I  am  happy  to  say,  to  nine. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  49 

first,  assistants  ;  then,  under-masters  ;  finally,  head- 
masters. Great  eagerness  was  manifested  to  be 
nominated  one  of  these  retained  scholars.  M.  Cuvier 
found  this  system  in  operation  when  he  visited 
Holland,  and  he  speaks  warmly  of  its  success.  It 
was  the  first  serious  attempt  to  form  a  body  of 
regularly  trained  masters  for  primary  schools.  In 
our  eyes  it  should  have  a  special  interest :  we  owe 
to  it  the  institution  of  pupil-teachers. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc."  (Holland),  p.  204. 


Religious  Instruction  in  Holland 

FINALLY,  under  the  legislation  of  1806  it  was  not 
permitted  to  public  schools  to  be  denominational. 
The  law  required  that  the  instruction  in  them  should 
be  such  as  to  "  train  its  recipients  for  the  exercise  of 
all  social  and  Christian  virtues,"  but  no  dogmatic 
religious  instruction  was  to  be  given  by  the  teacher, 
or  was  to  be  given  in  the  school.  Measures  were  to 
be  taken,  however,  that  the  scholar  should  not  go 
without  the  dogmatic  teaching  of  the  communion  to 
which  he  belonged.  Accordingly,  the  Minister  for 
the  Home  Department  exhorted  by  circular  the 
ministers  of  the  different  communions  to  co-operate 
with  the  Government  in  carrying  the  new  law  into 
execution,  by  taking  upon  themselves  the  religious 
instruction  of  the  school  children  belonging  to  their 
persuasion.  The  religious  authorities  replied  favour- 
ably to  this  appeal.  They  willingly  took  upon  them- 
selves the  task  required  of  them ;  and  nowhere, 

E 


50  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

perhaps,  has  the  religious  instruction  of  the  people 
been  more  eminently  religious  than  in  Holland, 
while  the  public  schools  have  remained,  by  law, 
unsectarian.  M.  Cuvier  found  that  the  school 
children,  in  1811,  were  taught  the  dogmatic  part  of 
their  religion  on  Sundays,  in  church,  by  their  own 
minister ;  that  on  Saturdays,  when  Jews  were 
absent,  they  were  instructed  in  school  by  the 
schoolmaster  in  the  New  Testament  and  the  life  of 
Christ ;  on  other  days,  in  the  truths  common  to  all 
religions.  M.  Cousin  found,  in  1836,  the  same 
avoidance  of  dogmatic  teaching  in  the  Dutch  schools, 
the  same  prevalence  of  sound  religious  instruction 
among  the  Dutch  people. 

M.  Cuvier  concludes  his  report  by  pointing  out 
the  foundation  on  which  the  excellent  school-system 
of  Holland  appeared  to  him  to  repose.  It  reposed, 
he  said,  upon  three  things  ;  the  comfort  of  the 
schoolmaster,  the  effectiveness  of  the  inspection,  the 
superiority  of  the  school-methods.  To  these  three 
advantages  the  Dutch  schools  still  owe  their 
prosperity. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of    France,  etc."    (Holland), 
pp.  204-205. 


The  Normal  School  of  Haarlem 

THE  normal  school  at  Haarlem  became  justly  cele- 
brated for  its  success,  due  to  the  capacity  and 
character  of  its  director,  M.  Prinsen.  M.  Prinsen 
was  still  at  its  head  when  M.  Cousin  visited  Holland. 
He  received  M.  Cousin  at  Haarlem  ;  and  the  vigour 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  51 

of  the  man,  and  the  personal  nature  of  his  influence 
over  his  pupils,  is  sufficiently  revealed  in  reply  to 
M.  Cousin's  request  for  a  copy  of  the  regulations  of 
his  school :  "  I  am  the  regulations,"  was  M.  Prinsen's 
answer. 

"  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc."  (Holland),  p.  206. 

The  Schools  of  Leyden  and  Utrecht 

IT  was  impossible  for  me  to  enter  without  emotion 
the  halls  and  lecture-rooms  of  Leyden  and  Utrecht, 
illustrious  by  the  memory  of  a  host  of  great  names, 
and  recalling  by  their  academic  costume,  their 
academic  language,  or  their  classical  predilections, 
the  venerable  Universities  of  our  own  country. 
Perhaps  the  feeling  that  these,  too,  long  maintained 
a  course  which  the  modern  spirit,  not  altogether 
without  justice,  decried  as  antiquated,  but  which 
nevertheless  formed  generations  able  to  fill,  not 
ignobly,  their  part  in  Church  and  State,  inspired  me 
with  indulgent  tenderness  towards  their  Dutch 
sisters. 

*'  The  Popular  Education  of  France,  etc."  p.  207. 

The  Value  of  Recitation 

RHETORIC  and  grammar  are  allied,  and  what  may 
be  called  the  rhetorical  exercise  of  paraphrasing  a 
passage  of  prose  or  poetry  often  finds  a  place  in 
our  grammar  examinations.  In  general  a  pupil- 
teacher  paraphrases  a  passage  even  worse  than  he 


52  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

analyses  it,  and  in  the  examination  for  Queen's 
scholarships  this  year  no  exercise  in  paraphrasing 
was  given.  We  all  complain  of  the  want  of  taste  and 
general  culture  which  the  pupil-teachers,  after  so 
much  care  spent  upon  them,  continue  to  exhibit ; 
and  in  their  almost  universal  failure  to  paraphrase 
ten  lines  of  prose  or  poetry,  without  doing  some 
grievous  violence  to  good  sense  or  good  taste,  they 
exhibit  this  want  most  conspicuously.  Here,  too, 
perhaps,  the  remedy  will  be  found  to  lie,  not  in 
attempting  to  teach  the  rules  of  taste  directly — 
a  lesson  which  we  shall  never  get  learnt — but  in 
introducing  a  lesson  which  we  can  get  learnt,  which 
has  a  value  in  itself  whether  it  leads  to  something 
more  or  not,  and  which,  in  happy  natures,  will 
probably  lead  to  this  something  more.  The  learn- 
ing by  heart  extracts  from  good  authors  is  such  a 
lesson.  I  have  often  thought  of  it  as  a  lesson 
offering  an  excellent  discipline  for  our  pupil-teachers 
and  I  rejoiced  to  see  it  instituted  by  one  of  the  regula- 
tions of  the  much  attacked  Revised  Code.  This 
regulation  at  any  rate,  I  think,  no  one  will  be  found 
to  attack.  Nay,  it  is  strange  that  a  lesson  of  such 
old  standing  and  such  high  credit  in  our  schools 
for  the  rich,  should  not  sooner  have  been  introduced 
in  our  schools  for  the  poor.  In  this  lesson  you 
have,  first  of  all,  the  excellent  discipline  of  a  lesson 
which  must  be  learnt  right,  or  it  has  no  value ; 
a  lesson  of  which  the  subject  matter  is  not  talked 
about,  as  in  too  many  of  the  lessons  of  our  elementary 
schools,  but  learnt.  Here,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
grammar  lesson,  this  positive  character  of  the  result 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION          53 

is  a  first  great  advantage.  Then,  in  all  but  the 
rudest  natures,  out  of  the  mass  of  treasures  thus 
gained  (and  the  mere  process  of  gaining  which 
will  have  afforded  a  useful  discipline  for  all  natures), 
a  second  and  a  more  precious  fruit  will  in  time 
grow;  they  will  be  insensibly  nourished  by  that 
which  is  stored  in  them,  and  their  taste  will  be 
formed  by  it,  as  the  learning  of  thousands  of  lines 
of  Homer  and  Virgil  has  insensibly  created  a  good 
literary  taste  in  so  many  persons,  who  would  never 
have  got  this  by  studying  the  rules  of  taste.  Pupil- 
teachers  will  then  be  found  to  paraphrase  well, 
whom  no  rules  supplied  by  their  teachers  will  ever 
teach  to  paraphrase  well  at  present. 

General  Report,  1861. 

The  most  important  Poetical  Monument 

IT  has  more  than  once  been  suggested  to  me  that  I 
should  translate  Homer.  That  is  a  task  for  which 
I  have  neither  the  time  nor  the  courage,  but  the 
suggestion  led  me  to  regard  yet  more  closely  a  poet 
whom  I  had  already  long  studied,  and  for  one  or 
two  years  the  works  of  Homer  were  seldom  out  of 
my  hands.  The  study  of  classical  literature  is 
probably  on  the  decline ;  but,  whatever  may  be 
the  fate  of  this  study  in  general,  it  is  certain  that, 
as  instruction  spreads  and  the  number  of  readers 
increases,  attention  will  be  more  and  more  directed 
to  the  poetry  of  Homer,  not  indeed  as  part  of  a 
classical  course,  but  as  the  most  important  poetical 
monument  existing. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  i. 


54  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

The  Translator's  Task 

IT  is  disputed  what  aim  a  translator  should  propose 
to  himself  in  dealing  with  his  original.  Even  this 
preliminary  is  not  yet  settled.  It  is  said  that  the 
translation  ought  to  be  such  "  that  the  reader  should, 
if  possible,  forget  that  it  is  a  translation  at  all,  and 
be  lulled  into  the  illusion  that  he  is  reading  an 
original  work — something  original  "  (if  the  trans- 
lation be  in  English)  "  from  an  English  hand." 
The  real  original  is  in  this  case,  it  is  said,  "  taken  as 
a  basis  on  which  to  rear  a  poem  that  shall  affect  our 
countrymen  as  the  original  may  be  conceived  to 
have  affected  its  natural  hearers." 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  2. 

The  only  Competent  Tribunal 

No  one  can  tell  him  how  Homer  affected  the  Greeks  ; 
but  there  are  those  who  can  tell  him  how  Homer 
affects  them.  These  are  scholars,  who  possess,  at 
the  same  time  with  knowledge  of  Greek,  adequate 
poetical  taste  and  feeling.  No  translation  will  seem 
to  them  of  much  worth  compared  with  the  original ; 
but  they  alone  can  say  whether  the  translation 
produces  more  or  less  the  same  effect  upon  them  as 
the  original.  They  are  the  only  competent  tribunal 
in  this  matter  :  the  Greeks  are  dead  ;  the  unlearned 
Englishman  has  not  the  data  for  judging ;  and  no 
man  can  safely  confide  in  his  own  single  judgment 
of  his  own  work.  Let  not  the  translator,  then, 
trust  to  his  notions  of  what  the  ancient  Greeks  would 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  55 

have  thought  of  him «  he  will  lose  himself  in  the 
vague.  Let  him  not  trust  to  what  the  ordinary 
English  reader  thinks  of  him ;  he  will  be  taking 
the  blind  for  his  guide.  Let  him  not  trust  to  his  own 
judgment  of  his  own  work ;  he  may  be  misled  by 
individual  caprices.  Let  him  ask  how  his  work 
affects  those  who  both  know  Greek  and  can  appre- 
ciate poetry ;  whether  to  read  it  gives  the  Provost 
of  Eton,  or  Professor  Thompson  at  Cambridge,  or 
Professor  Jowett  here  in  Oxford,  at  all  the  same 
feeling  which  to  read  the  original  gives  them.  I 
consider  that  when  Bentley  said  of  Pope's  trans- 
lation, "  It  was  a  pretty  poem,  but  must  not  be 
called  Homer,"  the  work,  in  spite  of  all  its  power 
and  attractiveness,  was  judged. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  4-5. 

Virtue  of  the  Latin  Element  in  English 

WE  owe  to  the  Latin  element  in  our  language  most 
of  that  very  rapidity  and  clear  decisiveness  by  which 
it  is  contradistinguished  from  the  German,  and  in 
sympathy  with  the  languages  of  Greece  and  Rome  : 
so  that  to  limit  an  English  translator  of  Homer  to 
words  of  Saxon  origin  is  to  deprive  him  of  one  of 
his  special  advantages  for  translating  Homer. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  7. 

How  to  Approach  Homer 

THE  frame  of  mind  in  which  we  approach  an  author 
influences  our  correctness  of  appreciation  of  him  ; 


56  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

and  Homer  should  be  approached  by  a  translator 
in  the  simplest  frame  of  mind  possible.  Modern 
sentiment  tries  to  make  the  ancient  not  less  than 
the  modern  world  its  own ;  but  against  modern 
sentiment  in  its  applications  to  Homer  the  trans- 
lator, if  he  would  feel  Homer  truly — and  unless  he 
feels  him  truly,  how  can  he  render  him  truly  ? — 
cannot  be  too  much  on  his  guard. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  8. 

The  Four  Qualities  of  Homer's  Poetry 

WHEN  I  say,  the  translator  of  Homer  should  above 
all  be  penetrated  by  a  sense  of  four  qualities  of  his 
author — that  he  is  eminently  rapid ;  that  he  is 
eminently  plain  and  direct,  both  in  the  evolution 
of  his  thought  and  in  the  expression  of  it,  that  is, 
both  in  his  syntax  and  in  his  words ;  that  he  is 
eminently  plain  and  direct  in  the  substance  of  his 
thought,  that  is,  in  his  matter  and  ideas  ;  and, 
finally  that  he  is  eminently  noble  ;  I  probably  seem 
to  be  saying  what  is  too  general  to  be  of  much  service 
to  anybody.  Yet  it  is  strictly  true  that,  for  want 
of  duly  penetrating  themselves  with  the  first-named 
quality  of  Homer,  his  rapidity,  Cowper  and  Mr. 
Wright  have  failed  in  rendering  him  ;  that,  for 
want  of  duly  appreciating  the  second-named  quality, 
his  plainness  and  directness  of  style  and  diction, 
Pope  and  Mr.  Sotheby  have  failed  in  rendering  him  ; 
that  for  want  of  appreciating  the  third,  his  plainness 
and  directness  of  ideas,  Chapman  has  failed  in 
rendering  him ;  while  for  want  of  appreciating  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  57 

fourth,  his  nobleness,  Mr.  Newman,  who  has  clearly 
seen  some  of  the  faults  of  his  predecessors,  has  yet 
failed  more  conspicuously  than  any  of  them. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  10. 


Unlikeness  of  Homer  to  Milton 

I  DO  not  despair  of  making  all  these  propositions 
clear  to  a  student  who  approaches  Homer  with  a 
free  mind.  First,  Homer  is  eminently  rapid,  and 
to  this  rapidity  the  elaborate  movement  of  Miltonic 
blank  verse  is  alien.  The  reputation  of  Cowper, 
that  most  interesting  man  and  excellent  poet,  does 
not  depend  on  his  translation  of  Homer,  and  in 
his  preface  to  the  second  edition,  he  himself  tells 
us  that  he  felt — he  had  too  much  poetical  taste  not 
to  feel — on  returning  to  his  own  version  after  six 
or  seven  years,  "  more  dissatisfied  with  it  himself 
than  the  most  difficult  to  be  pleased  of  all  his  judges." 
And  he  was  dissatisfied  with  it  for  the  right  reason — 
that  "  it  seemed  to  him  deficient  in  the  grace  of 
ease."  Yet  he  seems  to  have  originally  miscon- 
ceived the  manner  of  Homer  so  much,  that  it  is  no 
wonder  he  rendered  him  amiss.  "  The  similitude 
of  Milton's  manner  to  that  of  Homer  is  such,"  he 
says,  "  that  no  person  familiar  with  both  can  read 
either  without  being  reminded  of  the  other ;  and 
it  is  in  those  breaks  and  pauses  to  which  the  numbers 
of  the  English  poet  are  so  much  indebted  both  for 
their  dignity  and  variety,  that  he  chiefly  copies  the 
Grecian."  It  would  be  more  true  to  say :  «  The 


58  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

unlikeness  of  Milton's  manner  to  that  of  Homer  is 
such,  that  no  person  familiar  with  both  can  read 
either  without  being  struck  with  his  difference  from 
the  other ;  and  it  is  in  his  breaks  and  pauses  that 
the  English  poet  is  most  unlike  the  Grecian." 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  11-12. 


Fidelity  in  a  Translator 

IT  is  in  vain  that  Cowper  insists  on  his  fidelity ; 
"  my  chief  boast  is  that  I  have  adhered  closely  to 
my  original " — "  the  matter  found  in  me,  whether 
the  reader  like  it  or  not,  is  found  also  in  Homer  ; 
and  the  matter  not  found  in  me,  how  much  soever 
the  reader  may  admire  it,  is  found  only  in  Mr. 
Pope."  To  suppose  that  it  is  fidelity  to  an  original 
to  give  its  matter,  unless  you  at  the  same  time  give 
its  manner ;  or,  rather,  to  suppose  that  you  can 
really  give  its  matter  at  all,  unless  you  can  give  its 
manner,  is  just  the  mistake  of  our  pre-Raphaelite 
school  of  painters,  who  do  not  understand  that  the 
peculiar  effect  of  nature  resides  in  the  whole  and 
not  in  the  parts.  So  the  peculiar  effect  of  a  poet 
resides  in  his  manner  and  movement,  not  in  his 
words  taken  separately. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  14. 

The  Objection  to  a  Rhymed  Translation 

ON  the  whole,  Pope's  translation  of  the  Iliad  is 
more  Homeric  than  Cowper's,  for  it  is  more  rapid. 
Pope's  movement,  however,  though  rapid,  is  not 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  59 

of  the  same  kind  as  Homer's ;  and  here  I  come  to 
the  real  objection  to  rhyme  in  a  translation  of 
Homer.  It  is  commonly  said  that  rhyme  is  to  be 
abandoned  in  a  translation  of  Homer,  because  "  the 
exigences  of  rhyme,"  to  quote  Mr.  Newman,  "  posi- 
tively forbid  faithfulness  ;  "  because  "  a  just  trans- 
lation of  any  ancient  poet  in  rhyme,"  to  quote 
Cowper,  "  is  impossible."  This,  however,  is  merely 
an  accidental  objection  to  rhyme.  If  this  were  all, 
it  might  be  supposed,  that  if  rhymes  were  more 
abundant  Homer  could  be  adequately  translated  in 
rhyme.  But  this  is  not  so ;  there  is  a  deeper,  a 
substantial  objection  to  rhyme  in  a  translation  of 
Homer.  It  is,  that  rhyme  inevitably  tends  to  pair 
lines  which  in  the  original  are  independent,  and  thus 
the  movement  of  the  poem  is  changed. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  15. 


How  Pope  fails  to  render  Homer 

RHYME  certainly,  by  intensifying  antithesis,  can 
intensify  separation,  and  this  is  precisely  what  Pope 
does  ;  but  this  balanced  rhetorical  antithesis,  though 
very  effective,  is  entirely  un-Homeric.  And  this  is 
what  I  mean  by  saying  that  Pope  fails  to  render 
Homer,  because  he  does  not  render  his  plainness  and 
directness  of  style  and  diction.  Where  Homer  marks 
separation  by  moving  away,  Pope  marks  it  by 
antithesis. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  16 


60  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Pope's  Style  lacks  Plain  Naturalness 

A  LITERARY  and  intellectualised  language  is,  how- 
ever, in  its  own  way  well  suited  to  grand  matters  ; 
and  Pope,  with  a  language  of  this  kind  and  his  own 
admirable  talent,  comes  off  well  enough  as  long  as 
he  has  passion,  or  oratory,  or  a  great  crisis  to  deal 
with.  Even  here,  as  I  have  been  pointing  out,  he 
does  not  render  Homer ;  but  he  and  his  style  are 
in  themselves  strong.  It  is  when  he  comes  to  level 
passages,  passages  of  narrative  or  description,  that 
he  and  his  style  are  sorely  tried,  and  prove  them- 
selves weak.  A  perfectly  plain  direct  style  can  of 
course  convey  the  simplest  matter  as  naturally  as 
the  grandest ;  indeed,  it  must  be  harder  for  it,  one 
would  say,  to  convey  a  grand  matter  worthily  and 
nobly,  than  to  convey  a  common  matter,  as  alone 
such  a  matter  should  be  conveyed,  plainly  and 
simply.  But  the  style  of  Rasselas  is  incomparably 
better  fitted  to  describe  a  sage  philosophising  than 
a  soldier  lighting  his  camp-fire.  The  style  of  Pope 
is  not  the  style  of  Rasselas ;  but  it  is  equally  a 
literary  style,  equally  unfitted  to  describe  a  simple 
matter  with  the  plain  naturalness  of  Homer. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  19-20. 

Pope's  Style  Incapable  of  Good  Descriptions 

IN  elevated  passages  he  is  powerful,  as  Homer  is 
powerful,  though  not  in  the  same  way  ;  but  in  plain 
narrative,  where  Homer  is  still  powerful  and  de- 
lightful, Pope,  by  the  inherent  fault  of  his  style,  is 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  61 

ineffective  and  out  of  taste.  Wordsworth  says 
somewhere,  that  wherever  Virgil  seems  to  have 
composed  "  with  his  eye  on  the  object,"  Dryden 
fails  to  render  him.  Homer  invariably  composes 
"  with  his  eye  on  the  object,"  whether  the  object  be 
a  moral  or  a  material  one  ;  Pope  composes  with  his 
eye  on  his  style,  into  which  he  translates  his  object, 
whatever  it  is.  That,  therefore,  which  Homer 
conveys  to  us  immediately,  Pope  conveys  to  us 
through  a  medium.  He  aims  at  turning  Homer's 
sentiments  pointedly  and  rhetorically  ;  at  investing 
Homer's  description  with  ornament  and  dignity. 
A  sentiment  may  be  changed  by  being  put  into  a 
pointed  and  oratorical  form,  yet  may  still  be  very 
effective  in  that  form ;  but  a  description,  the 
moment  it  takes  its  eyes  off  that  which  it  is  to 
describe,  and  begins  to  think  of  ornamenting  itself, 
is  worthless. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  21-22. 


Pope's  Fate  a  Warning  to  Translators 

THEREFORE,  I  say,  the  translator  of  Homer  should 
penetrate  himself  with  a  sense  of  the  plainness  and 
directness  of  Homer's  style ;  of  the  simplicity  with 
which  Homer's  thought  is  evolved  and  expressed. 
He  has  Pope's  fate  before  his  eyes,  to  show  him 
what  a  divorce  may  be  created  even  between  the 
most  gifted  translator  and  Homer  by  an  artificial 
evolution  of  thought  and  a  literary  cast  of  style. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  22. 


62  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Pope's  Version  Contrasted  with  Chapman's 

CHAPMAN'S  style  is  not  artificial  and  literary  like 
Pope's  nor  his  movement  elaborate  and  self-retarding 
like  the  Miltonic  movement  of  Cowper.  He  is  plain- 
spoken,  fresh,  vigorous,  and,  to  a  certain  degree 
rapid ;  and  all  these  are  Homeric  qualities.  I 
cannot  say  that  I  think  the  movement  of  his  four- 
teen-syllable  line,  which  has  been  so  much  com- 
mended, Homeric ;  but  on  this  point  I  shall  have 
more  to  say  by  and  by,  when  I  come  to  speak  of 
Mr.  Newman's  metrical  exploits.  But  it  is  not 
distinctly  anti-Homeric,  like  the  movement  of 
Milton's  blank  verse ;  and  it  has  a  rapidity  of  its 
own.  Chapman's  diction,  too,  is  good,  that  is, 
appropriate.  With  these  merits,  what  prevents  his 
translation  from  being  a  satisfactory  version  of 
Homer  ?  It  is  merely  the  want  of  literal  faithful- 
ness to  his  original,  imposed  upon  him,  it  is  said, 
by  the  exigences  of  rhyme  ?  Has  this  celebrated 
version,  which  has  so  many  advantages,  no  other 
and  deeper  defect  than  this  ?  Its  author  is  a  poet, 
and  a  poet,  too,  of  the  Elizabethan  age  ;  the  golden 
age  of  English  literature  as  it  is  called,  and  on  the 
whole  truly  called ;  for,  whatever  be  the  defects  of 
Elizabethan  literature  (and  they  are  great),  we  have 
no  development  of  our  literature  to  compare  with 
it  for  vigour  and  richness.  This  age,  too,  showed 
what  it  could  do  in  translating,  by  producing  a 
master-piece,  its  version  of  the  Bible. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  22-23. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  63 

Chapman  wrongly  Praised  by  the  Critics 

CHAPMAN'S  translation  has  often  been  praised  as 
eminently  Homeric.  Keats's  fine  sonnet  in  its 
honour  every  one  knows ;  but  Keats  could  not 
read  the  original,  and  therefore  could  not  really 
judge  the  translation.  Coleridge,  in  praising  Chap- 
man's version,  says  at  the  same  time,  "  It  will  give 
you  small  idea  of  Homer."  But  the  grave  authority 
of  Mr.  Hallam  pronounces  this  translation  to  be 
"  often  exceedingly  Homeric "  ;  and  its  latest 
editor  boldly  declares  that  by  what,  with  a  de- 
plorable style,  he  calls  "  his  own  innative  Homeric 
genius,"  Chapman  "  has  thoroughly  identified  him- 
self with  Homer  ;  "  and  that  "  we  pardon  him  even 
for  his  digressions,  for  they  are  such  as  we  feel 
Homer  himself  would  have  written." 

I  confess  that  I  can  never  read  twenty  lines  of 
Chapman's  version  without  recurring  to  Bentley's 
cry,  "  This  is  not  Homer  !  "  and  that  from  a  deeper 
cause  than  any  unfaithfulness  occasioned  by  the 
fetters  of  rhyme. 

I  said  that  there  were  four  things  which  eminently 
distinguished  Homer,  and  with  a  sense  of  which 
Homer's  translator  should  penetrate  himself  as  fully 
as  possible.  One  of  these  four  things  was,  the 
plainness  and  directness  of  Homer's  ideas.  I  have 
just  been  speaking  of  the  plainness  and  directness 
of  his  style  ;  but  the  plainness  and  directness  of 
the  contents  of  his  style,  of  his  ideas  themselves,  is 
not  less  remarkable. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  24. 


64  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Homer  and  the  Elizabethans 

BUT  as  eminently  as  Homer  is  plain,  so  eminently  is 
the  Elizabethan  literature  in  general,  and  Chapman 
in  particular,  fanciful.  Steeped  in  humours  and 
fantasticality  up  to  its  very  lips,  the  Elizabethan 
age,  newly  arrived  at  the  free  use  of  the  human 
faculties  after  their  long  term  of  bondage,  and  de- 
lighting to  exercise  them  freely,  suffers  from  its  own 
extravagance  in  this  first  exercise  of  them,  can  hardly 
bring  itself  to  see  an  object  quietly  or  to  describe 
it  temperately.  Happily,  in  the  translation  of  the 
Bible,  the  sacred  character  of  their  original  inspired 
the  translators  with  such  respect  that  they  did  not 
dare  to  give  the  rein  to  their  own  fancies  in  dealing 
with  it.  But,  in  dealing  with  works  of  profane 
literature,  in  dealing  with  poetical  works  above  all, 
which  highly  stimulated  them,  one  may  say  that  the 
minds  of  the  Elizabethan  translators  were  too  active  ; 
that  they  could  not  forbear  importing  so  much  of 
their  own,  and  this  of  a  most  peculiar  and  Eliza- 
bethan character,  into  their  original,  that  they 
effaced  the  character  of  the  original  itself. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  25. 


Chapman's  Complexity  of  Thought 

ALL  the  Middle  Ages,  with  its  grotesqueness,  its 
conceits,  its  irrationality,  is  still  in  these  opening 
pages  ;  they  by  themselves  are  sufficient  to  indicate 
to  us  what  a  gulf  divides  Chapman  from  the  "  clearest 
souled  "  of  poets,  from  Homer ;  almost  as  great  a 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  65 

gulf  as  that  which  divides  him  from  Voltaire.  Pope 
has  been  sneered  at  for  saying  that  Chapman  writes 
"  somewhat  as  one  might  imagine  Homer  himself  to 
have  written  before  he  arrived  at  years  of  discretion." 
But  the  remark  is  excellent :  Homer  expresses  him- 
self like  a  man  of  adult  reason,  Chapman  like  a  man 
whose  reason  has  not  yet  cleared  itself.  For 
instance,  if  Homer  had  had  to  say  of  a  poet,  that  he 
hoped  his  merit  was  now  about  to  be  fully  estab- 
lished in  the  opinion  of  good  judges,  he  was  as 
incapable  of  saying  this  as  Chapman  says  it — 
"  Though  truth  in  her  very  nakedness  sits  in  so 
deep  a  pit,  that  from  Gades  to  Aurora,  and  Ganges, 
few  eyes  can  sound  her,  I  hope  yet  those  few  here 
will  so  discover  and  confirm  that  the  date  being  out 
of  her  darkness  in  this  morning  of  our  poet,  he  shall 
now  gird  his  temples  with  the  sun  " — I  say  Homer 
was  as  incapable  of  saying  this  in  that  manner,  as 
Voltaire  himself  would  have  been.  Homer,  indeed, 
has  actually  an  affinity  with  Voltaire  in  the  unrivalled 
clearness  and  straightforwardness  of  his  thinking ; 
in  the  way  in  which  he  keeps  to  one  thought  at  a 
time,  and  puts  that  thought  forth  in  its  complete 
natural  plainness,  instead  of  being  led  away  from  it 
by  some  fancy  striking  him  in  connexion  with  it, 
and  being  beguiled  to  wander  off  with  this  fancy 
till  his  original  thought,  in  its  natural  reality,  knows 
him  no  more.  What  could  better  show  us  how 
gifted  a  race  was  this  Greek  race  ?  The  same 
member  of  it  has  not  only  the  power  of  profoundly 
touching  that  natural  heart  of  humanity  which  it 
is  Voltaire's  weakness  that  he  cannot  reach,  but  can 

F 


66  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

also  address  the  understanding  with  all  Voltaire's 
admirable  simplicity  and  rationality. 

My  limits  will  not  allow  me  to  do  more  than 
shortly  illustrate  from  Chapman's  version  of  the 
Iliad,  what  I  mean  when  I  speak  of  this  vital  differ- 
ence between  Homer  and  an  Elizabethan  poet  in 
the  quality  of  their  thought ;  between  the  plain 
simplicity  of  the  thought  of  the  one,  and  the  curious 
complexity  of  the  thought  of  the  other. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  26-27. 

Homer  Works  in  the  Grand  Style 

THE  Elizabethan  poet  fails  to  render  Homer  because 
he  cannot  forbear  to  interpose  a  play  of  thought 
between  his  object  and  its  expression.  Chapman 
translates  his  object  into  Elizabethan,  as  Pope 
translates  it  into  the  Augustan  of  Queen  Anne  ; 
both  convey  it  to  us  through  a  medium.  Homer,  on 
the  other  hand,  sees  his  object  and  conveys  it  to  us 
immediately. 

And  yet,  in  spite  of  this  perfect  plainness  and 
directness  of  Homer's  style,  in  spite  of  this  perfect 
plainness  and  directness  of  his  ideas,  he  is  eminently 
noble  ;  he  works  as  entirely  in  the  grand  style,  he 
is  as  grandiose,  as  Phidias,  or  Dante,  or  Michael 
Angelo.  This  is  what  makes  his  translators  despair. 
"  To  give  relief,"  says  Cowper,  "  to  prosaic  subjects  " 
(such  as  dressing,  eating,  drinking,  harnessing, 
travelling,  going  to  bed),  that  is  to  treat  such  sub- 
jects nobly,  in  the  grand  style,  "  without  seeming 
unreasonably  tumid,  is  extremely  difficult."  It  is 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  67 

difficult,  but  Homer  has  done  it.  Homer  is  precisely 
the  incomparable  poet  he  is,  because  he  has  done  it. 
His  translator  must  not  be  tumid,  must  not  be 
artificial,  must  not  be  literary ;  true :  but  then 
also  he  must  not  be  commonplace,  must  not  be 
ignoble. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  30. 

The  One  Thing  demanded  of  a  Translation 

IF  the  scholar  in  judging  a  translation  looks  to 
detail  rather  than  to  general  effect,  he  judges  it 
pedantically  and  ill.  The  appeal,  however,  lies  not 
from  the  pedantic  scholar  to  the  general  public, 
which  can  only  like  or  dislike  Chapman's  version, 
or  Pope's,  or  Mr.  Newman's,  but  cannot  judge 
them ;  it  lies  from  the  pedantic  scholar  to  the 
scholar  who  is  not  pedantic,  who  knows  that  Homer 
is  Homer  by  his  general  effect,  and  not  by  his  single 
words,  and  who  demands  but  one  thing  in  a  trans- 
lation— that  it  shall,  as  nearly  as  possible,  reproduce 
for  him  the  general  effect  of  Homer. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  32. 

Homeric  Unity 

THE  insurmountable  obstacle  to  believing  the  Iliad 
a  consolidated  work  of  several  poets  is  this  :  that 
the  work  of  great  masters  is  unique ;  and  the  Iliad 
has  a  great  master's  genuine  stamp,  and  that  stamp 
is  the  grand  style. 

Poets  who  cannot  work  in  the  grand  style  in- 
stinctively seek  a  style  in  which  their  comparative 


68  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

inferiority  may  feel  itself  at  ease,  a  manner  which 
may  be,  so  to  speak,  indulgent  to  their  inequalities. 
The  ballad-style  offers  to  an  epic  poet,  quite  unable 
to  fill  the  canvas  of  Homer,  or  Dante,  or  Milton,  a 
canvas  which  he  is  capable  of  filling. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  47. 


What  Constitutes  the  Grand  Style 

I  MAY  discuss  what,  in  the  abstract,  constitutes  the 
grand  style,  but  that  sort  of  general  discussion  never 
much  helps  our  judgment  of  particular  instances. 
I  may  say  that  the  presence  or  absence  of  the  grand 
style  can  only  be  spiritually  discerned ;  and  this  is 
true,  but  to  plead  this  looks  like  evading  the  diffi- 
culty. My  best  way  is  to  take  eminent  specimens 
of  the  grand  style,  and  put  them  side  by  side  with 
this  of  Scott.  For  example,  when  Homer  says  : — 

a\\6.,  <(>(\os,  Give  Kul  av.     T/TJ  o\vct>vpeai  olirus  ; 
KtirOave  Kal  fl6.TpoK\os,  STTC/J  fffo  iroXXbj/  o.p.eCvuv,* 

that  is  in  the  grand  style.     When  Virgil  says  :— 

Disce,  puer,  virtutem  ex  me  verumque  laborem, 
Fortunam  ex  aliis,  t 

that  is  in  the  grand  style.     When  Dante  says  : — 

Lascio  lo  fele,  et  vo  pei  dolci  pomi 
Promessi  a  me  per  lo  verace  Duca  ; 
Ma  fino  al  centro  pria  convein  ch'  io  tomi,  J 

*  "  Be  content,  good  friend,  die  also  thou  !  why  lamentest 
thou  thyself  on  this  wise  ?  Patroclus,  too  died,  who  was  a  far 
better  than  thou."  Iliad,  xxi.  106. 

f  "  From  me,  young  man,  learn  nobleness  of  soul  and  true 
effort :  learn  success  from  others."  Aeneid,  xii.  435. 

J  "  I  leave  the  gall  of  bitterness,  and  I  go  for  the  apples  of 
sweetness  promised  unto  me  by  my  faithful  Guide ;  but  far  as 
the  centre  it  behoves  me  first  to  fall."  Hell,  xvi.  61. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  69 

that  is  in  the  grand  style.    When  Milton  says  : — 

His  form  had  not  yet  lost 
All  her  original  brightness,  nor  appeared 
Less  than  archangel  ruined,  and  the  excess 
Of  glory  obscured,* 

that,  finally,  is  in  the  grand  style.  Now  let  any 
one  after  repeating  to  himself  these  four  passages, 
repeat  again  the  passage  of  Scott,  and  he  will  per- 
ceive that  there  is  something  in  style  which  the  first 
four  have  in  common,  and  which  the  last  is  without ; 
and  this  something  is  precisely  the  grand  manner. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  59-61. 

Homer  and  Scott 

THE  poetic  style  of  Scott  is — (it  becomes  necessary 
to  say  so  when  it  is  proposed  to  translate  Homer  into 
the  melodies  of  Marmion)  it  is,  tried  by  the  highest 
standard,  a  bastard  epic  style  ;  and  that  is  why, 
out  of  his  own  powerful  hands,  it  has  had  so  little 
success.  It  is  a  less  natural,  and  therefore  a  less 
good  style  than  the  original  ballad  style  ;  while  it 
shares  with  the  ballad  style  the  inherent  incapacity 
of  rising  into  the  grand  style,  of  adequately  rendering 
Homer.  Scott  is  certainly  at  his  best  in  his  battles. 
Of  Homer  you  could  not  say  this ;  he  is  not  better 
in  his  battles  than  elsewhere  ;  but  even  between  the 
battle-pieces  of  the  two  there  exists  all  the  difference 
which  there  is  between  an  able  work  and  a  master- 
piece. 

Tunstall  lies  dead  upon  the  field, 

His  life-blood  stains  the  spotless  shield  : 

*  Paradise  Lost,  i.  591. 


70  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Edmund  is  down, — my  life  is  reft, — 
The  Admiral  alone  is  left. 

— "  For  not  in  the  hands  of  Diomede  the  son  of 
Tydeus  rages  the  spear,  to  ward  off  destruction  from 
the  Danaans  ;  neither  as  yet  have  I  heard  the  voice 
of  the  son  of  Atreus,  shouting  out  of  his  hated 
mouth  ;  but  the  voice  of  Hector  the  slayer  of  men 
bursts  round  me,  as  he  cheers  on  the  Trojans  ;  and 
they  with  their  yellings  fill  all  the  plain,  over- 
coming the  Achaians  in  the  battle." — I  protest  that, 
to  my  feeling,  Homer's  performance,  even  through 
that  pale  and  far-off  shadow  of  a  prose  translation, 
still  has  a  hundred  times  more  of  the  grand  manner 
about  it,  than  the  original  poetry  of  Scott. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  61. 


English  Eccentricity  and  the  need  of  Criticism 

OUR  present  literature,  which  is  very  far,  certainly, 
from  having  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elizabethan 
genius,  yet  has  in  its  own  way  these  faults,  eccen- 
tricity and  arbitrariness,  quite  as  much  as  the 
Elizabethan  literature  ever  had.  They  are  the 
cause  that,  while  upon  none,  perhaps,  of  the  modern 
literatures  has  so  great  a  sum  of  force  been  expended 
as  upon  the  English  literature,  at  the  present  hour 
this  literature,  regarded  not  as  an  object  of  mere 
literary  interest  but  as  a  living  intellectual  instru- 
ment ranks  only  third  in  European  effect  and  im- 
portance among  the  literatures  of  Europe  ;  it  ranks 
after  the  literatures  of  France  and  Germany.  Of 
these  two  literatures,  as  of  the  intellect  of  Europe 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  71 

in  general,  the  main  effort,  for  now  many  years,  has 
been  a  critical  effort ;  the  endeavour,  in  all  branches 
of  knowledge,  theology,  philosophy,  history,  art, 
science — to  see  the  object  as  in  itself  it  really  is. 
But,  owing  to  the  presence  in  English  literature  of 
this  eccentric  and  arbitrary  spirit,  owing  to  the 
strong  tendency  of  English  writers  to  bring  to  the 
consideration  of  their  object  some  individual  fancy, 
almost  the  last  thing  for  which  one  would  come  to 
English  literature  is  just  that  very  thing  which  now 
Europe  most  desires — criticism. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  65. 


The  Best  Metres  for  Epic  Poetry 

I  HAVE  sufficiently  shown  why  I  think  all  forms  of 
our  ballad-metre  unsuited  to  Homer.  It  seems  to 
me  to  be  beyond  question  that,  for  epic  poetry,  only 
three  metres  can  seriously  claim  to  be  accounted 
capable  of  the  grand  style.  Two  of  these  will  at 
once  occur  to  every  one — the  ten-syllable,  or  so- 
called  heroic,  couplet,  and  blank  verse.  I  do  not 
add  to  these  the  Spenserian  stanza,  although  Dr. 
Maginn,  whose  metrical  eccentricities  I  have  already 
criticised,  pronounces  this  stanza  the  one  right 
measure  for  a  translation  of  Homer.  It  is  enough 
to  observe  that  if  Pope's  couplet,  with  the  simple 
system  of  correspondences  that  its  rhymes  introduce, 
changes  the  movement  of  Homer,  in  which  no  such 
correspondences  are  found,  and  is  therefore  a  bad 
measure  for  a  translator  of  Homer  to  employ, 
Spenser's  stanza,  with  its  far  more  intricate  system 


72  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

of  correspondences,  must  change  Homer's  move- 
ment far  more  profoundly,  and  must  therefore  be 
for  the  translator  a  far  worse  measure  than  the 
couplet  of  Pope.  Yet  I  will  say,  at  the  same  time, 
that  the  verse  of  Spenser  is  more  fluid,  slips  more 
easily  and  quickly  along,  than  the  verse  of  almost 
any  other  English  poet. 

By  this  the  northern  waggoner  had  set 
His  seven-fold  team  behind  the  stedfast  star 
That  was  in  ocean  waves  yet  never  wet, 
But  firm  is  fixed,  and  sendeth  light  from  far, 
To  all  that  in  the  wide  deep  wandering  are.* 

One  cannot  but  feel  that  English  verse  has  not 
often  moved  with  the  fluidity  and  sweet  ease  of 
these  lines.  It  is  possible  that  it  may  have  been 
this  quality  of  Spenser's  poetry  which  made  Dr. 
Maginn  think  that  the  stanza  of  The  Faery  Queen 
must  be  a  good  measure  for  rendering  Homer.  This 
it  is  not :  Spenser's  verse  is  fluid  and  rapid,  no 
doubt,  but  there  are  more  ways  than  one  of  being 
fluid  and  rapid,  and  Homer  is  fluid  and  rapid  in 
quite  another  way  than  Spenser.  Spenser's  manner 
is  no  more  Homeric  than  is  the  manner  of  the  one 
modern  inheritor  of  Spenser's  beautiful  gift, — the 
poet,  who  evidently  caught  from  Spenser  his  sweet 
and  easy-slipping  movement,  and  who  has  ex- 
quisitely employed  it ;  a  Spenserian  genius,  nay, 
a  genius  by  natural  endowment  richer  probably  than 
even  Spenser ;  that  light  which  shines  so  unex- 
pectedly and  without  fellow  in  our  century,  an 

*  The  Faery  Queen,  Canto  ii.  stanza  i. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  73 

Elizabethan  born  too  late,  the  early  lost  and  ad- 
mirably gifted  Keats. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  69-70. 

Milton's  Blank  Verse 

THE  rhymed  ten-syllable  couplet  being  thus  ex- 
cluded, blank  verse  offers  itself  for  the  translator's 
use.  The  first  kind  of  blank  verse  which  naturally 
occurs  to  us  is  the  blank  verse  of  Milton,  which  has 
been  employed,  with  more  or  less  modification,  by 
Mr.  Gary  in  translating  Dante,  by  Cowper,  and  by 
Mr.  Wright  in  translating  Homer.  How  noble  this 
metre  is  in  Milton's  hands,  how  completely  it  shows 
itself  capable  of  the  grand,  nay,  of  the  grandest, 
style,  I  need  not  say.  To  this  metre,  as  used  in 
the  Paradise  Lost,  our  country  owes  the  glory  of 
having  produced  one  of  the  only  two  poetical  works 
in  the  grand  style  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  modern 
languages  ;  the  Divine  Comedy  of  Dante  is  the  other. 
England  and  Italy  here  stand  alone  ;  Spain,  France, 
and  Germany,  have  produced  great  poets,  but 
neither  Calderon,  nor  Corneille,  nor  Schiller,  nor 
even  Goethe,  has  produced  a  body  of  poetry  in  the 
true  grand  style,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  style 
of  the  body  of  Homer's  poetry,  or  Pindar's,  or 
Sophocles's  is  grand. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  71-72. 

Milton  Contrasted  with  Homer 

BUT  the  grandeur  of  Milton  is  one  thing,  and  the 
grandeur  of  Homer  is  another.  Homer's  movement, 


74  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

I  have  said  again  and  again,  is  a  flowing,  a  rapid 
movement ;  Milton's,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a 
laboured,  a  self -retarding  movement.  In  each  case, 
the  movement,  the  metrical  cast,  corresponds  with 
the  mode  of  the  evolution  of  the  thought,  with  the 
syntactical  cast,  and  is  indeed  determined  by  it. 
Milton  charges  himself  so  full  with  thought,  imagina- 
tion, knowledge,  that  his  style  will  hardly  contain 
them.  He  is  too  full-stored  to  show  us  in  much 
detail  one  conception,  one  piece  of  knowledge ;  he 
just  shows  it  to  us  in  a  pregnant  allusive  way,  and 
then  he  presses  on  to  another  ;  and  all  this  fulness, 
this  pressure,  this  condensation,  this  self -constraint, 
enters  into  his  movement,  and  makes  it  what  it  is — 
noble,  but  difficult  and  austere.  Homer  is  quite 
different ;  he  says  a  thing,  and  says  it  to  the  end, 
and  then  begins  another,  while  Milton  is  trying  to 
press  a  thousand  things  into  one.  So  that  whereas, 
in  reading  Milton,  you  never  lose  the  sense  of 
laborious  and  condensed  fulness,  in  reading  Homer 
you  never  lose  the  sense  of  flowing  and  abounding 
ease.  With  Milton  line  runs  into  line,  and  all  is 
straitly  bound  together ;  with  Homer  line  runs  off 
from  line  and  all  hurries  away  onward. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  73. 


The  Possibilities  of  the  English  Hexameter 

WHEN  I  say  this,  I  point  to  the  metre  which  seems 
to  me  to  give  the  translator  the  best  chance  of  pre- 
serving the  general  effect  of  Homer — that  third 
metre  which  I  have  not  yet  expressly  named,  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  75 

hexameter.  I  know  all  that  is  said  against  the  use 
of  hexameters  in  English  poetry ;  but  it  comes 
only  to  this,  that,  among  us,  they  have  not  yet 
been  used  on  any  considerable  scale  with  success. 
Solvitur  ambulando :  this  is  the  objection  which 
can  best  be  met  by  producing  good  English  hexa- 
meters. And  there  is  no  reason  in  the  nature  of 
the  English  language  why  it  should  not  adapt  itself 
to  hexameters  as  well  as  the  German  language  does  ; 
nay,  the  English  language,  from  its  greater  rapidity, 
is  in  itself  better  suited  than  the  German  for  them. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  77. 


Homer  and  the  Bible 

WE  shall  find  one  English  book  and  one  only,  where, 
as  hi  the  Iliad  itself,  perfect  plainness  of  speech  is 
allied  with  perfect  nobleness  ;  and  that  book  is  the 
Bible.  No  one  could  see  this  more  clearly  than 
Pope  saw  it :  "  This  pure  and  noble  simplicity,"  he 
says,  "  is  nowhere  in  such  perfection  as  in  the 
Scripture  and  Homer,"  yet  even  with  Pope  a  woman 
is  a  "  fair,"  a  father  is  a  "  sire,"  and  an  old  man  a 
"  reverend  sage,"  and  so  on  through  all  the  phrases 
of  that  pseudo-Augustan,  and  most  unbiblical, 
vocabulary.  The  Bible,  however,  is  undoubtedly 
the  grand  mine  of  diction  for  the  translator  of  Homer ; 
and,  if  he  knows  how  to  discriminate  truly  between 
what  will  suit  him  and  what  will  not,  the  Bible  may 
afford  him  also  invaluable  lessons  of  style. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  89. 


76  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Genius  of  Homer 

HOMER  has  not  only  the  English  vigour,  he  has  the 
Greek  grace  ;  and  when  one  observes  the  bolstering, 
rollicking  way  in  which  his  English  admirers — even 
men  of  genius,  like  the  late  Professor  Wilson — love 
to  talk  of  Homer  and  his  poetry,  one  cannot  help 
feeling  that  there  is  no  very  deep  community  of 
nature  between  them  and  the  object  of  their  en- 
thusiasm. "  It  is  very  well,  my  good  friends,"  I 
always  imagine  Homer  saying  to  them  :  if  he  could 
hear  them  :  "  you  do  me  a  great  deal  of  honour,  but 
somehow  or  other  you  praise  me  too  like  barbarians." 
For  Homer's  grandeur  is  not  the  mixed  and  turbid 
grandeur  of  the  great  poets  of  the  north,  of  the 
authors  of  Othello  and  Faust ;  it  is  a  perfect,  a  lovely 
grandeur.  Certainly  his  poetry  has  all  the  energy 
and  power  of  the  poetry  of  our  ruder  climates  ;  but 
it  has,  besides,  the  pure  lines  of  an  Ionian  horizon, 
the  liquid  clearness  of  an  Ionian  sky. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  106. 

The  Evils  of  Literary  Controversy 

"  NOTWITHSTANDING  this  example,"  says  Buffon, 
who,  as  well  as  Montesquieu,  had  been  attacked  by 
the  Jansenist  Gazetteer,  "  notwithstanding  this 
example,  I  think  I  may  promise  my  course  will  be 
different.  I  shall  not  answer  a  single  word." 

And  to  any  one  who  has  noticed  the  baneful 
effects  of  controversy  with  all  its  train  of  personal 
rivalries  and  hatreds,  on  men  of  letters  or  men  of 
science  ;  to  any  one  who  has  observed  how  it  tends 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  77 

to  impair,  not  only  their  dignity  and  repose,  but  their 
productive  force,  their  genuine  activity ;  how  it 
always  checks  the  free  play  of  the  spirit,  and  often 
ends  by  stopping  it  altogether ;  it  can  hardly  seem 
doubtful,  that  the  rule  thus  imposed  on  himself  by 
Buffon  was  a  wise  one.  His  own  career,  indeed, 
admirably  shows  the  wisdom  of  it.  That  career  was 
as  glorious  as  it  was  serene ;  but  it  owed  to  its 
serenity  no  small  part  of  its  glory. 

Buffon's  example  seems  to  me  worthy  of  all 
imitation,  and  in  my  humble  way  I  mean  always  to 
follow  it.  I  have  never  replied,  I  never  will  reply, 
to  any  literary  assault ;  in  such  encounters  tempers 
are  lost,  the  world  laughs,  and  truth  is  not  served. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  108-109. 

English  Literary  Opinion 

I  THINK  that  in  England,  partly  from  the  want  of 
an  Academy,  partly  from  a  national  habit  of  intellect 
to  which  that  want  of  an  Academy  is  itself  due, 
there  exists  too  little  of  what  I  may  call  a  public 
force  of  correct  literary  opinion,  possessing  within 
certain  limits  a  clear  sense  of  what  is  right  and  wrong, 
sound  and  unsound,  and  sharply  recalling  men  of 
ability  and  learning  from  any  flagrant  misdirection 
of  these  their  advantages.  I  think,  even,  that  in 
our  country  a  powerful  misdirection  of  this  kind  is 
often  more  likely  to  subjugate  and  pervert  opinion 
than  to  be  checked  and  corrected  by  it.  Hence  a 
chaos  of  false  tendencies,  wasted  efforts,  impotent 
conclusions,  works  which  ought  never  to  have  been 


78  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

undertaken.  Any  one  who  can  introduce  a  little 
order  into  this  chaos  by  establishing  in  any  quarter 
a  single  sound  rule  of  criticism,  a  single  rule  which 
clearly  marks  what  is  right  as  right,  and  what  is 
wrong  as  wrong,  does  a  good  deed  ;  and  his  deed  is 
so  much  the  better  the  greater  force  he  counteracts 
of  learning  and  ability  applied  to  thicken  the  chaos. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  112. 


Danger  and  Charm  of  Dilettanteism 

"  THE  first  beginnings  of  my  Wilhelm  Meister,"  says 
Goethe,  "  arose  out  of  an  obscure  sense  of  the  great 
truth  that  man  will  often  attempt  something  for 
which  nature  has  denied  him  the  proper  powers, 
will  undertake  and  practise  something  in  which  he 
cannot  become  skilled.  An  inward  feeling  warns 
him  to  desist  "  (yes,  but  there  are,  unhappily,  cases 
of  absolute  judicial  blindness  !)  "  nevertheless  he 
cannot  get  clear  in  himself  about  it,  and  is  driven 
along  a  false  road  to  a  false  goal,  without  knowing 
how  it  is  with  him.  To  this  we  may  refer  everything 
which  goes  by  the  name  of  false  tendency,  dilet- 
tanteism,  and  so  on.  A  great  many  men  waste  in 
this  way  the  fairest  portion  of  their  lives,  and  fall 
at  last  into  wonderful  delusion."  Yet  after  all — 
Goethe  adds — it  sometimes  happens  that  even  on 
this  false  road  a  man  finds,  not  indeed  that  which 
he  sought,  but  something  which  is  good  and  useful 
for  him ;  "  like  Saul,  the  son  of  Kish,  who  went 
forth  to  look  for  his  father's  asses,  and  found  a 
kingdom."  And  thus  false  tendency  as  well  as 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  79 

true,  vain  effort  as  well  as  fruitful,  go  together  to 
produce  that  great  movement  of  life,  to  present 
that  immense  and  magic  spectacle  of  human  affairs, 
which  from  boyhood  to  old  age  fascinates  the  gaze 
of  every  man  of  imagination,  and  which  would  be 
his  terror,  if  it  were  not  at  the  same  time  his  delight. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  114. 

The  Saving  Grace  of  Ignorance 

AND  he  ends  by  saying  that  my  ignorance  is  great. 
Alas  !  that  is  very  true.  Much  as  Mr.  Newman 
was  mistaken  when  he  talked  of  my  rancour,  he  is 
entirely  right  when  he  talks  of  my  ignorance.  And 
yet,  perverse  as  it  seems  to  say  so,  I  sometimes  find 
myself  wishing,  when  dealing  with  these  matters  of 
poetical  criticism,  that  my  ignorance  were  even 
greater  than  it  is.  To  handle  these  matters  properly 
there  is  needed  a  poise  so  perfect  that  the  least 
overweight  in  any  direction  tends  to  destroy  the 
balance.  Temper  destroys  it,  a  crotchet  destroys  it, 
even  erudition  may  destroy  it.  To  press  to  the 
sense  of  the  thing  itself  with  which  one  is  dealing, 
not  to  go  off  on  some  collateral  issue  about  the 
thing,  is  the  hardest  matter  in  the  world.  The 
"  thing  itself  "  with  which  one  is  here  dealing — the 
critical  perception  of  poetic  truth — is  of  all  things 
the  most  volatile,  elusive,  and  evanescent ;  by  even 
pressing  too  impetuously  after  it,  one  runs  the  risk 
of  losing  it.  The  critic  of  poetry  should  have  the 
finest  tact,  the  nicest  moderation,  the  most  free, 
flexible,  and  elastic  spirit  imaginable  ;  he  should  be 


8o  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

indeed  the  "  ondoyant  et  divers,"  the  undulating 
and  diverse  being  of  Montaigne.  The  less  he  can 
deal  with  his  object  simply  and  freely,  the  more 
things  he  has  to  take  into  account  in  dealing  with 
it — the  more,  in  short,  he  has  to  encumber  himself 
— so  much  the  greater  force  of  spirit  he  needs  to 
retain  his  elasticity.  But  one  cannot  exactly  have 
this  greater  force  by  wishing  for  it ;  so,  for  the  force 
of  spirit  one  has,  the  load  put  upon  it  is  often  heavier 
than  it  will  bear.  The  late  Duke  of  Wellington  said 
of  a  certain  peer  that  "  it  was  a  great  pity  his  educa- 
tion had  been  so  far  too  much  for  his  abilities." 
In  like  manner,  one  often  sees  erudition  out  of  all 
proportion  to  its  owner's  critical  faculty.  Little  as 
I  know,  therefore,  I  am  always  apprehensive,  in 
dealing  with  poetry,  lest  even  that  little  should 
prove  "  too  much  for  my  abilities." 

*'  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  116-117. 


Homer  the  Bible  of  the  Athenians 

HOMER'S  verses  were  some  of  the  first  words  which 
a  young  Athenian  heard.  He  heard  them  from  his 
mother  or  his  nurse  before  he  went  to  school,  and 
at  school,  when  he  went  there,  he  was  constantly 
occupied  with  them.  So  much  did  he  hear  of  them 
that  Socrates  proposes,  in  the  interests  of  morality, 
to  have  selections  from  Homer  made,  and  placed 
in  the  hands  of  mothers  and  nurses,  in  his  model 
republic ;  in  order  that,  of  an  author  with  whom 
they  were  sure  to  be  so  perpetually  conversant,  the 
young  might  learn  only  those  parts  which  might  do 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  Si 

them  good.  His  language  was  as  familiar  to 
Sophocles,  we  may  be  quite  sure,  as  the  language 
of  the  Bible  is  to  us. 

Nay,  more.  Homer's  language  was  not,  of 
course,  in  the  time  of  Sophocles,  the  spoken  or  written 
language  of  ordinary  life,  any  more  than  the  language 
of  the  Bible,  any  more  than  the  language  of  poetry, 
is  with  us  ;  but  for  one  great  species  of  composition 
— epic  poetry — it  was  still  the  current  language  ;  it 
was  the  language  in  which  every  one  who  made  that 
sort  of  poetry  composed. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  125. 

The  Need  to  seek  a  Positive  Result  in  Criticism 

THIS  is  all  I  seek  in  criticisms ;  and  perhaps  (as  I  have 
already  said)  it  is  only  as  one  seeks  a  positive  result 
of  this  kind,  that  one  can  get  any  fruit  from  them. 
Seeking  a  negative  result  from  them — personal 
altercation  and  wrangling — one  gets  no  fruit  ; 
seeking  a  positive  result,  the  elucidation  and  estab- 
lishment of  one's  ideas — one  may  get  much.  Even 
bad  criticisms  may  thus  be  made  suggestive  and 
fruitful.  I  declared,  in  a  former  lecture  on  this 
subject,  my  conviction  that  criticism  is  not  the 
strong  point  of  our  national  literature.  Well,  even 
the  bad  criticisms  on  our  present  topic  which  I  meet 
with,  serve  to  illustrate  this  conviction  for  me.  And 
thus  one  is  enabled,  even  in  reading  remarks  which 
for  Homeric  criticism,  for  their  immediate  subject, 
have  no  value — which  are  far  too  personal  in  spirit, 
far  too  immoderate  in  temper,  and  far  too  heavy- 

G 


82  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

handed  in  style,  for  the  delicate  matter  they  have 
to  treat — still  to  gain  light  and  confirmation  for  a 
serious  idea,  and  to  follow  the  Baconian  injunc- 
tion, semper  aliquid  addiscere,  always  to  be  adding 
to  one's  stock  of  observation  and  knowledge.  Yes, 
even  when  we  have  to  do  with  writers  who — to 
quote  the  words  of  an  exquisite  critic,  the  master 
of  us  all  in  criticism,  M.  Sainte-Beuve — remind  us, 
when  they  handle  such  subjects  as  our  present,  of 
"  Romans  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  century,  coming  to 
hold  forth,  all  at  random,  in  African  style,  on  papers 
found  in  the  desk  of  Augustus,  Maecenas,  or  Pollio," 
even  then  we  may  instruct  ourselves  if  we  may  regard 
ideas  and  not  persons ;  even  then  we  may  enable 
ourselves  to  say,  with  the  same  critic  describing 
the  effect  made  upon  him  by  D'Argenson's  Memoirs  : 
"  My  taste  is  revolted,  but  I  learn  something — 
Je  suis  choque  mais  je  suis  instruit." 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  133-134. 

What  is  "The  Grand  Style"? 

HOMER  can  in  no  sense  be  said  to  sink  with  his 
subject,  because  his  soundness  has  something  more 
than  literal  naturalness  about  it ;  because  his  sound- 
ness is  the  soundness  of  Homer,  of  a  great  epic 
poet ;  because,  in  fact,  he  is  in  the  grand  style.  So 
he  sheds  over  the  simplest  matter  he  touches  the 
charm  of  his  grand  manner ;  he  makes  everything 
noble.  Nothing  has  raised  more  questioning  among 
my  critics  than  these  words — noble,  the  grand  style. 
People  complain  that  I  do  not  define  these  words 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  83 

sufficiently,  that  I  do  not  tell  them  enough  about 
them.     "  The  grand  style — but  what  is  the  grand 
style  ?  "    they  cry ;    some  with   an   inclination  to 
believe  in  it,  but  puzzled ;    others  mockingly  and 
with  incredulity.     Alas  !   the  grand  style  is  the  last 
matter  in  the  world  for  verbal  definition  to  deal 
with  adequately.     One  may  say  of  it  as  is  said  of 
faith  :   "  One  must  feel  it  in  order  to  know  what  it 
is."     But,  as  of  faith,  so  too  one  may  say  of  noble- 
ness, of  the  grand  style  :   "  Woe  to  those  who  know 
it  not !  "     Yet  this  expression,  though  indefinable, 
has  a  charm  ;    one  is  the  better  for  considering  it  ; 
bonum  est,  nos  hie  esse  ;    nay,  one  loves  to  try  to 
explain  it,  though  one  knows  that  one  must  speak 
imperfectly.     For  those,  then,  who  ask  the  question, 
What  is  the  grand  style  ?    with  sincerity,  I  will  try 
to  make  some  answer,  inadequate  as  it  must  be. 
For  those  who  ask  it  mockingly  I  have  no  answer, 
except  to  repeat  to  them,  with  compassionate  sorrow, 
the  Gospel  words  :   Moriemini  in  peccatis  vestris,  Ye 
shall  die  in  your  sins. 

But  let  me,  at  any  rate,  have  the  pleasure  of 
again  giving,  before  I  begin  to  try  and  define  the 
grand  style,  a  specimen  of  what  it  is. 

Standing  on  earth,  not  rapt  above  the  pole, 
More  safe  I  sing  with  mortal  voice,  unchanged 
To  hoarse  or  mute,  though  fall'n  on  evil  days, 
On  evil  days  though  fall'n,  and  evil  tongues.  .  .  . 

There  is  the  grand  style  in  perfection ;  and  any 
one  who  has  a  sense  for  it,  will  feel  it  a  thousand 
times  better  from  repeating  those  lines  than  from 
hearing  anything  I  can  say  about  it. 


84  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Let  us  try,  however,  what  can  be  said,  controlling 
what  we  say  by  examples.  I  think  it  will  be  found 
that  the  grand  style  arises  in  poetry,  when  a  noble 
nature,  poetically  gifted,  treats  with  simplicity  or  with 
severity  a  serious  subject. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  137-138. 

The  Best  Models  of  the  Grand  Style 

THE  best  model  of  the  grand  style  simple  is  Homer  ; 
perhaps  the  best  model  of  the  grand  style  severe  is 
Milton.  But  Dante  is  remarkable  for  affording 
admirable  examples  of  both  styles  ;  he  has  the  grand 
style  which  arises  from  simplicity,  and  he  has  the 
grand  style  which  arises  from  severity. 

Both  these  styles,  the  simple  and  the  severe,  are 
truly  grand  ;  the  severe  seems,  perhaps,  the  grandest, 
so  long  as  we  attend  most  to  the  great  personality, 
to  the  noble  nature,  in  the  poet  its  author ;  the 
simple  seems  the  grandest  when  we  attend  most  to 
the  exquisite  faculty,  to  the  poetical  gift.  But  the 
simple  is  no  doubt  to  be  preferred.  It  is  the  more 
magical :  in  the  other  there  is  something  intellectual, 
something  which  gives  scope  for  a  play  of  thought 
which  may  exist  where  the  poetical  gift  is  either 
wanting  or  present  in  only  inferior  degree  ;  the  severe 
is  much  more  imitable,  and  this  a  little  spoils  its 
charm. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  140-142. 

The  Critic's  First  Duty 

IT  is  the  critic's  first  duty — prior  even  to  his  duty 
of  stigmatising  what  is  bad— to  welcome  everything 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  85 

that  is  good.  In  welcoming  this,  he  must  at  all 
times  be  ready,  like  the  Christian  convert,  even  to 
burn  what  he  used  to  worship,  and  to  worship  what 
he  used  to  burn.  Nay,  but  he  need  not  be  thus 
inconsistent  in  welcoming  it ;  he  may  retain  all  his 
principles  :  principles  endure,  circumstances  change  ; 
absolute  success  is  one  thing,  relative  success  another. 
Relative  success  may  take  place  under  the  most 
diverse  conditions  ;  and  it  is  in  appreciating  the 
good  in  even  relative  success,  it  is  in  taking  into 
account  the  change  of  circumstances,  that  the  critic's 
judgment  is  tested,  that  his  versatility  must  display 
itself.  He  is  to  keep  his  idea  of  the  best,  of  per- 
fection, and  at  the  same  time  to  be  willingly  accessible 
to  every  second  best  which  offers  itself. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  155-156. 

Verse  Translation  to  be  Preferred  to  Prose 

I  CONCEDE  that  a  good  verse-translation  of  Homer, 
or,  indeed,  of  any  poet,  is  very  difficult,  and  that  a 
good  prose-translation  is  much  easier ;  but  then  I 
urge  that  a  verse-translation,  while  giving  the  pleasure 
which  Pope's  has  given,  might  at  the  same  time 
render  Homer  more  faithfully  than  Pope's ;  and 
that  this  being  possible,  we  ought  not  to  cease 
wishing  for  a  source  of  pleasure  which  no  prose- 
translation  can  ever  hope  to  rival. 

Wishing  for  such  a  verse-translation  of  Homer, 
believing  that  rhythms  have  natural  tendencies 
which,  within  certain  limits,  inevitably  govern  them  ; 
having  little  faith,  therefore,  that  rhythms  which 


86  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

have  manifested  tendencies  utterly  un-Homeric  can 
so  change  themselves  as  to  become  well  adapted 
for  rendering  Homer — I  have  looked  about  for  the 
rhythm  which  seems  to  depart  least  from  the  ten- 
dencies of  Homer's  rhythm.  Such  a  rhythm  I  think 
may  be  found  in  the  English  hexameter,  somewhat 
modified. 

"On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  157-158. 

Distinctive  Character  of  Poets 

BUT,  after  all,  Homer  is  not  a  better  poet  than  the 
balladists,  because  he  has  taken  in  the  hexameter  a 
better  instrument ;  he  took  this  instrument  because 
he  was  a  different  poet  from  them  ;  so  different — 
not  only  so  much  better,  but  so  essentially  different — 
that  he  is  not  to  be  classed  with  them  at  all.  Poets 
receive  their  distinctive  character,  not  from  their 
subjects,  but  from  their  application  to  that  subject 
of  the  ideas  (to  quote  the  Excursion) , 

On  God,  on  Nature,  and  on  human  life, 

which  they  have  acquired  for  themselves.  In  the 
ballad-poets  in  general,  as  in  men  of  a  rude  and 
early  stage  of  the  world,  in  whom  their  humanity 
is  not  yet  variously  and  fully  developed,  the  stock 
of  these  ideas  is  scanty,  and  the  ideas  themselves 
not  very  effective  or  profound.  From  them  the 
narrative  itself  is  the  great  matter,  not  the  spirit 
and  significance  which  underlies  the  narrative.  Even 
in  later  times  of  richly  developed  life  and  thought, 
poets  appear  to  have  what  may  be  called  a  balladist's 
mind;  in  whom  a  fresh  and  lively  curiosity  for 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  87 

the  outward  spectacle  of  the  world  is  much  more 
strong  than  their  sense  of  the  inward  significance 
of  that  spectacle.  When  they  apply  ideas  to  their 
narrative  of  human  events,  you  feel  that  they  are,  so 
to  speak,  travelling  out  of  their  own  province  :  in 
the  best  of  them  you  feel  this  perceptibly,  but  in 
those  of  a  lower  order  you  feel  it  very  strongly. 
Even  Sir  Walter  Scott's  efforts  of  this  kind — even, 
for  instance,  the 

Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead, 

or  the 

O  woman  !  in  our  hours  of  ease, — 

even  these  leave,  I  think,  as  high  poetry,  much  to 
be  desired  ;  far  more  than  the  same  poet's  descrip- 
tions of  a  hunt  or  a  battle.  But  Lord  Macaulay's — 

Then  out  spake  brave  Horatius, 

The  captain  of  the  gate : 
'  To  all  the  men  upon  this  earth 

Death  cometh  soon  or  late,' 

(and  here,  since  I  have  been  reproached  with  under- 
valuing Lord  Macaulay's  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,  let 
me  frankly  say  that,  to  my  mind,  a  man's  power  to 
detect  the  ring  of  false  metal  in  those  Lays  is  a  good 
measure  of  his  fitness  to  give  an  opinion  about 
poetical  matters  at  all),  I  say,  Lord  Macaulay's — 

To  all  the  men  upon  this  earth 
Death  cometh  soon  or  late, 

it  is  hard  to  read  without  a  cry  of  pain.  But  with 
Homer  it  is  very  different.  This  "  noble  barbarian," 
this  "  savage  with  the  lively  eye," — whose  verse, 
Mr.  Newman  thinks,  would  affect  us,  if  we  could 


88  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

hear  the  living  Homer,  "  like  an  elegant  and  simple 
melody  from  an  African  of  the  Gold  Coast," — is 
never  more  at  home,  never  more  nobly  himself, 
than  in  applying  profound  ideas  to  his  narrative. 
As  a  poet  he  belongs — narrative  as  is  his  poetry 
and  early  as  is  his  date — to  an  incomparably  more 
developed  spiritual  and  intellectual  order  than  the 
balladists,  or  than  Scott  and  Macaulay  ;  he  is  here 
as  much  to  be  distinguished  from  them,  and  in 
the  same  way,  as  Milton  is  to  be  distinguished  from 
them.  He  is,  indeed,  rather  to  be  classed  with 
Milton  than  with  the  balladists  and  Scott ;  for  what 
he  has  in  common  with  Milton — the  noble  and  pro- 
found application  of  ideas  to  life — is  the  most 
essential  part  of  poetic  greatness. 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  pp.  170-172. 


Some  Excuse  for  the  Author's  Vivacity 

How  vain  to  rise  up  early,  and  to  take  rest  late, 
from  any  zeal  for  proving  to  Mr.  Newman  that  he 
must  not,  in  translating  Homer,  say  houndis  and 
dancen ;  or  to  the  first  of  the  two  critics  above 
quoted,  that  one  poet  may  be  a  greater  poetical 
force  than  another,  and  yet  have  a  more  unequal 
style ;  or  to  the  second,  that  the  best  art,  having 
to  represent  the  death  of  a  hero,  does  not  set  about 
imitating  his  dying  noises  !  Such  critics,  however, 
provide  for  an  opponent's  vivacity  the  charming 
excuse  offered  by  Rivarol  for  his,  when  he  was 
reproached  for  giving  offence  by  it : — "  Ah  !  "  he 
exclaimed,  "  no  one  considers  how  much  pain  every 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  89 

man   of  taste  has  had  to  suffer    before  he  ever 
inflicts  any." 

"  On  Translating  Homer,"  p.  176. 


The  Revised  Code  of  1862 

THE  impossibility  of  preparing  the  bulk  of  the 
children  to  pass  the  examination  proposed  was,  no 
doubt,  exaggerated.  We  have  seen  what  can  be 
accomplished  in  this  line  by  preparers.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  have  always  thought  that  the  Com- 
missioners, finding  in  the  state  of  the  junior  classes 
and  of  the  elementary  matters  of  instruction  a  point 
easy  to  be  made  and  strikingly  effective,  naturally 
made  it  with  some  excess  of  energy,  and  pressed  it 
too  hard.  I  knew  the  English  schools  well  in  this 
period,  between  1850  and  1860,  and  at  the  end  of 
it  I  was  enabled  to  compare  them  with  schools 
abroad.  Some  preventible  neglect  of  the  junior 
classes,  some  preventible  shortcoming  in  the  ele- 
mentary instruction  there  was,  but  not  nearly  so 
much  as  was  imagined.  What  there  was  would 
have  been  sufficiently  met  by  a  capitation  grant  on 
individual  examination,  not  for  the  whole  school, 
but  for  the  children  between  seven  and  eight 
years  old,  and  nine  and  ten,  a  grant  which  would 
then  have  been  subsidiary,  not  principal.  General 
"  payment  by  results  "  has  been  a  remedy  worse 
than  the  disease  which  it  was  meant  to  cure. 

The  opposition  to  Mr.  Lowe's  Revised  Code  of 
1862  so  far  prevailed  that  it  was  agreed  to  pay 
one-third  of  the  Government  grant  on  attendance, 


90  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

and  but  two-thirds  on  examination.  Moreover, 
the  grouping  by  age  was  abandoned,  and  the 
arrangement  of  the  children  in  six  classes,  or 
standards,  as  they  have  come  to  be  called,  was 
substituted  for  it.  The  teacher  presented  the 
child  in  the  standard  for  which  he  thought  him  fit ; 
he  must  present  him  the  next  time,  however,  in  a 
standard  above  that. 

The  capitation  grant  on  attendance  was  four 
shillings ;  that  on  examination  was  twice  that 
amount,  one-third  of  which  was  forfeited  for  a 
failure  in  reading,  or  writing,  or  arithmetic.  This 
latter  grant  has  governed  the  instruction  and  in- 
spection of  our  elementary  schools  ever  since.  I 
have  never  wavered  in  the  opinion — most  unaccept- 
able to  my  official  chiefs — that  such  a  consequence 
of  the  Revised  Code  was  inevitable,  and  also  harmful. 
To  a  clever  Minister  and  an  austere  Secretary,  to  the 
House  of  Commons  and  the  newspapers,  the  scheme 
of  "  payment  by  results,"  and  those  results,  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic,  "  the  most  necessary  part 
of  what  children  come  to  school  to  learn," — a  scheme 
which  should  make  public  education  "  if  not  efficient, 
cheap  ;  and  if  not  cheap,  efficient,  "-r-was,  of  course, 
attractive.  It  was  intelligible,  plausible,  likely  to 
be  carried,  likely  to  be  maintainable,  after  it  had 
been  carried.  That,  by  concentrating  the  teacher's 
attention  upon  enabling  his  scholars  to  pass  in  the 
three  elementary  matters,  it  must  injure  the  teaching, 
narrow  it,  and  make  it  mechanical,  was  an  educator's 
objection  easily  brushed  aside  by  our  public  men. 
It  was  urged  by  Sir  James  Shuttleworth,  but  this 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  91 

was  attributed  to  a  parent's  partiality  for  the 
Minutes  of  1846  and  the  Old  Code  founded  on  them, 
a  Code  which  the  Revised  Code  had  superseded. 
But  the  objection  did  really  occur  to  him  and  weigh 
with  him,  because  he  was  a  born  educator,  and  had 
seen  and  studied  the  work  of  the  great  Swiss  educators, 
Pestalozzi,  Fellenberg,  Vehrli.  It  occurred  to  me 
because  I  had  seen  the  foreign  schools.  No  serious 
and  well-informed  student  of  education,  judging 
freely  and  without  bias,  will  approve  the  Revised 
Code. 

1887.  "  Letters,"  i.  p.  148. 

Reading  and  Recitation 

THE  attention  which  has  been  drawn  by  the  Revised 
Code  to  the  elementary  subjects  of  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic  has  already  had  the  happiest  effect 
in  improving  the  quality  of  school  reading  books. 
At  last  the  compilers  of  these  works  seem  beginning 
to  understand  that  the  right  way  of  teaching  a  little 
boy  to  read  is  not  by  setting  him  to  read  such  sen- 
tences as  these  (I  quote  from  school  works  till 
lately  much  in  vogue)  ;  "  the  crocodile  is  vivi- 
parous," "  quicksilver,  antimony,  calamine,  zinc, 
etc.,  are  metals,"  "  the  slope  of  a  desk  is  oblique,  the 
corners  of  the  door  are  angles ;  "  or  the  right  way 
of  teaching  a  big  boy  to  read  better,  to  set  him  to 
read  :  "  some  time  after  one  meal  is  digested  we 
feel  again  the  sensation  of  hunger,  which  is  gratified 
by  again  taking  food  ;  "  "  most  towns  are  supplied 
with  water  and  lighted  by  gas,  their  streets  are 
paved  and  kept  clean,  and  guarded  by  policemen  ;  " 


92  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

"  summer  ornaments  for  grates  are  made  of  wood 
shavings  and  of  different  coloured  papers."  Reading 
books  are  now  published  which  reject  all  such 
trash  as  the  above,  and  contain  nothing  but  what 
has  really  some  fitness  for  reaching  the  end  which 
reading  books  were  meant  to  reach.  Some  of  them 
even  go  a  little  too  far  in  the  effort  to  avoid  dryness 
and  pedantry  and  to  be  natural  and  interesting  ; 
they  contain  rather  too  many  abbreviations,  too 
many  words  meant  to  imitate  the  noises  of  animals, 
and  too  much  of  that  part  of  human  utterance  which 
may  be  called  the  inter jectional.  The  little  children, 
for  whom  the  books  are  designed,  are  apt  to  be 
rather  puzzled  by  words  of  this  kind,  and,  even  if 
they  were  not,  it  is  a  fault  in  a  short  reading  lesson 
to  contain  too  much  of  them.  But  this  fault,  which 
certainly  some  of  the  best  of  the  new  reading  books 
do  not  quite  avoid,  has  at  least  the  merit  of  being 
a  fault  on  the  right  side. 

No  more  useful  change  has  in  my  opinion  ever 
been  introduced  into  the  programme  of  the  pupil- 
teachers'  studies  than  that  which  has  lately  added 
to  it  the  learning  by  heart  of  passages  from  some 
standard  author.  How  difficult  it  seems  to  do 
anything  for  their  taste  and  culture  I  have  often 
said.  I  have  said  how  much  easier  it  seems  to 
get  entrance  to  their  minds  and  to  awaken  them 
by  means  of  music  or  of  physical  science  than  by 
means  of  literature ;  still  if  it  can  be  done  by 
literature  at  all,  it  has  the  best  chance  of  being 
done  by  the  way  now  proposed. 

General  Report,  1863. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  93 

Teachers  and  Self-culture 

IN  England  it  is  among  the  teachers  that  the  desire 
for  a  better  culture,  and  the  attainment  of  it,  most 
shows  itself.  It  shows  itself  in  those  in  my  district 
by  more  and  more  numerous  efforts  to  pass  the 
examinations  which  the  London  University,  with 
a  wise  liberality,  makes  accessible  to  so  large  and 
various  a  class  of  candidates.  I  gladly  seize  every 
opportunity  to  express  the  satisfaction  which  the 
sight  of  these  efforts  gives  me.  To  the  able,  the 
ardent,  and  the  aspiring  among  the  young  teachers 
of  schools  under  my  inspection,  I  say :  "  Your 
true  way  of  advancing  yourselves,  of  raising  your 
position,  of  keeping  alive  and  alert  amidst 
your  trying  labours,  is  there."  And  the  more  the 
Government  certificate  comes  to  be  regarded  as  a 
mere  indispensable  guarantee  of  competency,  not  as  a 
literary  distinction,  the  better  ;  literary  distinction 
should  be  sought  for  from  other  and  larger  sources. 

General  Report,  1863. 

A  Learned  and  a  Liberal  Education 
IT  is  well  to  take  the  distinction  which  you  have 
taken  between  liberal  and  learned  education,  because 
this  is  one  of  the  things  which  the  public  has  got 
into  its  head,  and  one  can  do  most  with  the  public 
by  availing  oneself  of  one  of  these  things.  To  give 
the  means  of  learning  Greek,  for  instance,  but  not  to 
make  Greek  obligatory,  is  a  proposal,  for  secondary 
education,  which  half  the  world  are  now  prepared 
to  prick  up  their  ears  if  you  make. 

1864.  "  Letters,"  i.  p.  233. 


94  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

The  Reform  of  Eton 

IF  Eton  does  not  teach  her  pupils  profound  wisdom, 
we  have  Oxerstiern's  word  for  it  that  the  world  is 
governed  by  very  little  wisdom.  Eton,  at  any  rate, 
teaches  her  aristocratic  pupils  virtues  which  are 
among  the  best  virtues  of  an  aristocracy,  freedom 
from  affectation,  manliness,  a  high  spirit,  simplicity. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  she  teaches  something  of  these 
virtues  to  her  other  pupils  also,  who,  not  of  the 
aristocratic  class  themselves,  enjoy  at  Eton  the 
benefit  of  contact  with  aristocracy.  For  these 
other  pupils,  perhaps,  a  little  more  learning  as  well, 
a  somewhat  stronger  dose  of  ideas,  might  be  desirable. 
Above  all,  it  might  be  desirable  to  wean  them  from 
the  easy  habits  and  profuse  notions  of  expense 
which  Eton  generates, — habits  and  notions  graceful 
enough  in  the  lilies  of  the  social  field,  but  incon- 
venient for  its  future  toilers  and  spinners.  To  con- 
vey to  Eton  the  knowledge  that  the  wine  of  Cham- 
pagne does  not  water  the  whole  earth,  and  that  there 
are  incomes  which  fall  below  £5000  a  year,  would 
be  an  act  of  kindness  towards  a  large  class  of 
British  parents,  full  of  proper  pride,  but  not  opulent. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  3-4, 


French  and  English  Literature 

IN  the  study  of  the  mother-tongue  the  French 
schoolboy  has  a  more  real  advantage  over  ours  ;  he 
does  certainly  learn  something  of  the  French 
language  and  literature,  and  of  the  English  our 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  95 

schoolboy  learns  nothing.  French  grammar,  how- 
ever, is  a  better  instrument  of  instruction  for  boys 
than  English  grammar,  and  the  French  literature 
possesses  prose  works,  perhaps  even  poetical  works, 
more  fitted  to  be  used  as  classics  for  schoolboys 
than  any  which  English  literature  possesses.  I  need 
not  say  that  the  fitness  of  the  works  for  this  purpose 
depends  on  other  considerations  than  those  of  the 
genius  alone,  and  of  the  creative  force,  which  they 
exhibit. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  17-18. 


Lacordaire 

LACORDAIRE  erred  in  making  absolute  devotion  to 
the  Church  (malheur  a  qui  trouble  I'Eglise),  the  watch- 
word of  a  gifted  man  in  our  century  ;  one  cannot 
doubt  that  he  erred  in  affirming  that  "  the  greatest 
service  to  be  rendered  to  Christianity  in  our  day  was 
to  do  something  for  the  revival  of  the  mediaeval 
religious  orders."  Still,  he  seized  a  great  truth, 
when  he  proclaimed  the  intrinsic  weakness  and 
danger  of  a  state  of  anarchy  ;  above  all,  when  he 
applied  this  truth  in  the  moral  sphere  he  was  incon- 
trovertible, fruitful  for  his  nation,  especially  fruitful 
for  the  young.  He  dealt  vigorously  with  himself, 
and  he  told  others  that  the  first  thing  for  them  was 
to  do  the  same  :  he  placed  character  above  every- 
thing else.  "  One  may  have  spirit,  learning,  even 
genius,"  he  said,  "  and  not  character  ;  for  want  of 
character  our  age  is  the  age  of  miscarriages.  Let 
us  form  Christians  in  our  schools,  but,  first  of  all, 


96  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

let  us  form  Christians  in  our  own  hearts  ;  the  one 
great  thing  is  to  have  a  life  of  one's  own." 

"  One  of  the  great  consolations  of  my  present 
life,"  he  writes  from  Soreze,  "  is,  that  I  have  now 
God  and  the  young  for  my  sole  companions."  The 
young,  with  their  fresh  spirit,  as  they  instinctively 
feel  the  presence  of  a  great  character,  so,  too, 
irresistibly  receive  an  influence  from  souls  which 
live  habitually  with  God. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  26,  28. 

Cost  of  Secondary  Instruction 

FOR  the  serious  thinker,  for  the  real  student  of  the 
question  of  secondary  instruction,  the  problem 
respecting  secondary  instruction  which  we  in  England 
have  to  solve  is  this  :  Why  cannot  we  have  through- 
out England,  as  the  French  have  throughout 
France,  as  the  Germans  have  throughout  Germany, 
as  the  Swiss  have  throughout  Switzerland,  as  the 
Dutch  have  throughout  Holland,  schools  where  the 
children  of  our  middle  and  professional  classes  may 
obtain,  at  the  rate  of  from  £20  to  £50  a  year,  if  they 
are  boarders,  at  the  rate  of  from  £5  to  £15  a  year,  if 
they  are  day-scholars,  an  education  of  as  good 
quality,  with  as  good  guarantees,  social  character, 
and  advantages  for  a  future  career  in  the  world,  as 
the  education  which  French  children  of  the  corre- 
sponding class  can  obtain  from  institutions  like  that 
of  Toulouse  or  Soreze  ? 

There  is  the  really  important  question.  It  is 
vain  to  meet  it  by  propositions  which  may,  very 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  97 

likely,  be  true,  but  which  are  quite  irrelevant. 
"  Your  French  Etons,"  I  am  told,  "  are  no  Etons 
at  all ;  there  is  nothing  like  an  Eton  in  France." 
I  know  that.  Very  likely  France  is  to  be  pitied  for 
having  no  Etons,  but  I  want  to  call  attention  to 
the  substitute,  to  the  compensation.  The  English 
public  school  produces  the  finest  boys  in  the  world  ; 
the  Toulouse  Lyceum  boy,  the  Soreze  College  boy, 
is  not  to  be  compared  with  them.  Well,  let  me 
grant  all  that  too.  But  then  there  are  only  some 
five  or  six  schools  in  England  to  produce  this 
specimen-boy  ;  and  they  cannot  produce  him  cheap. 
"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  37-38. 

The  need  of  Securities  for  Efficiency 

No  one  who  knows  anything  of  the  subject,  will 
venture  to  affirm  that  these  "  educational  homes  " 
give,  or  can  give,  that  which  they  "  conscientiously 
offer."  No  one,  who  knows  anything  of  the  subject, 
will  seriously  affirm  that  they  give,  or  can  give, 
an  education  comparable  to  that  given  by  the 
Toulouse  and  Soreze  schools.  And  why  ?  Because 
they  want  the  securities,  which,  to  make  them 
produce  even  half  of  what  they  offer,  are  indispens- 
able— the  securities  of  supervision  and  publicity. 
By  this  time  we  know  pretty  well  that  to  trust  to 
the  principle  of  supply  and  demand  to  do  for  us 
all  that  we  want  in  providing  education  is  to  lean 
upon  a  broken  reed. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  p.  43. 


98  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

The  Law  of  Supply  and  Demand  Inapplicable 

THE  mass  of  mankind  know  good  butter  from  bad, 
and  tainted  meat  from  fresh,  and  the  principle  of 
supply  and  demand  may,  perhaps,  be  relied  on  to 
give  us  sound  meat  and  butter.  But  the  mass  of 
mankind  do  not  so  well  know  what  distinguishes 
good  teaching  and  training  from  bad ;  they  do  not 
here  know  what  they  ought  to  demand,  and,  there- 
fore, the  demand  cannot  be  relied  on  to  give  us  the 
right  supply.  Even  if  they  knew  what  they  ought 
to  demand,  they  have  no  sufficient  means  of  testing 
whether  or  no  this  is  really  supplied  to  them. 
Securities,  therefore,  are  needed.  The  great  public 
schools  of  England  offer  securities  by  their  very 
publicity ;  by  their  wealth,  importance,  and  con- 
nections, which  attract  general  attention  to  them  ; 
by  their  old  reputation,  which  they  cannot  forfeit 
without  disgrace  and  danger.  The  appointment  of 
the  Public  Schools  Commission  is  a  proof,  that  to 
these  moral  securities  for  the  efficiency  of  the  great 
public  schools  may  be  added  the  material  security 
of  occasional  competent  supervision.  I  will  grant 
that  the  great  schools  of  the  Continent  do  not  offer 
the  same  moral  securities  to  the  public  as  Eton  or 
Harrow.  They  offer  them  in  a  certain  measure, 
but  certainly  not  in  so  large  measure;  they 
have  not  by  any  means  so  much  importance,  by 
any  means  so  much  reputation.  Therefore  they 
offer,  in  far  larger  measure,  the  other  security,  the 
security  of  competent  supervision.  With  them 
this  supervision  is  not  occasional  and  extraordinary, 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION  99 

but  periodic  and  regular  ;  it  is  not  explorative  only; 
it  is  also,  to  a  considerable  extent,  authoritative. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  44-45. 

Delusive  Examinations 

ANY  one  can  see  that  the  examination  of  a  few  select 
scholars  from  a  school,  not  at  the  school  itself,  and 
not  preceded  or  followed  by  an  inspection  of  the 
school  itself,  affords  no  solid  security  for  the  good 
condition  of  their  school.  Any  one  can  see  that  it 
is  for  the  interest  of  an  unscrupulous  master  to  give 
all  his  care  to  his  few  cleverest  pupils,  who  will  serve 
him  as  an  advertisement,  while  he  neglects  the 
common  bulk  of  his  pupils,  whose  backwardness 
there  will  be  nobody  to  expose.  I  will  not,  however, 
insist  too  strongly  on  this  last  mischief,  because  I 
really  believe  that,  serious  as  is  its  danger,  it  has  not 
so  much  prevailed  as  to  counterbalance  the  benefit 
which  the  mere  stimulus  of  these  examinations  has 
given.  All  I  say  is,  that  this  stimulus  is  an  insuffi- 
cient security. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  57-58. 

The  Real  Needs  in  Secondary  Instruction 

ENGLISH  secondary  instruction  wants,  I  said,  two 
things  :  sufficient  provision  of  good  schools,  sufficient 
security  for  these  schools  continuing  good.  Granting 
that  the  Universities  may  give  us  the  second,  I 
do  not  see  how  they  are  to  give  us  the  first.  It  is  not 
enough  merely  to  provide  a  staff  of  inspectors  and 
examiners,  and  still  to  leave  the  children  of  our 


ioo         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

middle  class  scattered  about  through  the  numberless 
obscure  endowed  schools  and  "  educational  homes  " 
of  this  country,  some  of  them  good,  many  of  them 
middling,  most  of  them  bad ;  but  none  of  them 
great  institutions,  none  of  them  invested  with  much 
consideration  or  dignity.  What  is  wanted  for  the 
English  middle  class  is  respected  schools  as  well  as 
inspected  ones.  I  will  explain  what  I  mean. 

The  education  of  each  class  in  society  has,  or 
ought  to  have,  its  ideal,  determined  by  the  wants 
of  that  class,  and  by  its  destination.  Society  may 
be  imagined  so  uniform  that  one  education  shall  be 
suitable  for  all  its  members  ;  we  have  not  a  society 
of  that  kind,  nor  has  any  European  country.  We 
have  to  regard  the  condition  of  the  classes,  in  dealing 
with  education  ;  but  it  is  right  to  take  into  account 
not  their  immediate  condition  only,  but  their  wants, 
their  destination — above  all,  their  evident  pressing 
wants,  their  evident  proximate  destination.  Looking 
at  English  society  at  this  moment,  one  may  say 
that  the  ideal  for  the  education  of  each  of  its  classes 
to  follow,  the  aim  which  the  education  of  each  should 
particularly  endeavour  to  reach,  is  different.  Mr. 
Hawtrey,  whose  admirable  and  fruitful  labours  at 
St.  Mark's  School  entitle  him  to  be  heard  with  great 
respect,  lays  it  down  as  an  absolute  proposition  that 
the  family  is  the  type  of  the  school.  I  do  not  think 
that  is  true  for  the  schools  of  all  classes  alike.  I  feel 
sure  my  father,  whose  authority  Mr.  Hawtrey  claims 
for  this  maxim,  would  not  have  laid  it  down  in 
this  absolute  way.  For  the  wants  of  the  highest 
class,  of  the  class  which  frequents  Eton,  for  instance, 


THOUGHTS   ON  EDUCATION         101 

not  school  a  family,  but  rather  school  a  little  world, 
is  the  right  ideal.  I  cannot  concede  to  Mr.  Hawtrey 
that,  for  the  young  gentlemen  who  go  to  Eton,  our 
grand  aim  and  aspiration  should  be,  in  his  own  words, 
"  to  make  their  boyhood  a  joyous  one,  by  gentle 
usage  and  friendly  confidence  on  the  part  of  the 
master."  Let  him  believe  me,  the  great  want  for 
the  children  of  luxury  is  not  this  sedulous  tenderness, 
this  smoothing  of  the  rose-leaf  for  them  ;  I  am  sure 
that,  in  fact,  it  is  not  by  the  predominance  of  the 
family  and  parental  relation  in  its  school-life  that 
Eton  is  strongest ;  and  it  is  well  that  this  is  so.  It 
seems  to  me  that,  for  the  class  frequenting  Eton, 
the  grand  aim  of  education  should  be  to  give  them 
those  good  things  which  their  birth  and  rearing  are 
least  likely  to  give  them,  besides  mere  book-learning, 
the  notion  of  a  sort  of  republican  fellowship,  the 
practice  of  a  plain  life  in  common,  the  habit  of 
self-help.  To  the  middle  class,  the  grand  aim  of 
education  should  be  to  give  largeness  of  soul  and 
personal  dignity  ;  to  the  lower  classes,  feeling, 
gentleness,  humanity.  Here,  at  last,  Mr.  Hawtrey's 
ideal  of  the  family  as  the  type  for  the  school,  comes 
in  its  due  place  ;  for  the  children  of  poverty  it  is 
right,  it  is  needful,  to  set  oneself  first  to  "  make 
their  boyhood  a  joyous  one  by  gentle  usage  and 
friendly  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  master  ;  "  for 
them  the  great  danger  is  not  insolence  from  over- 
cherishing,  but  insensibility  from  over-neglect. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  60-63. 


102         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

The  Middle  Class  and  Higher  Education 

IF  secondary  instruction  were  organised  on  a  great 
and  regular  scale,  if  it  were  a  national  concern,  it 
would  not  be  by  insuring  to  the  offspring  of  the 
middle  classes  a  more  solid  teaching  at  school,  and 
a  larger  share  of  home  comforts  than  they  at  present 
enjoy  there  (though  certainly  it  would  do  this),  that 
such  secondary  instruction  would  confer  upon  them 
the  greatest  boon.  Its  greatest  boon  to  the  offspring 
of  these  classes  would  be  its  giving  them  great, 
honourable,  public  institutions  for  their  nurture — 
institutions  conveying  to  the  spirit,  at  the  time  of 
fife  when  the  spirit  is  most  penetrable,  the  salutary 
influences  of  greatness,  honour,  and  nationality — 
influences  which  expand  the  soul,  liberalise  the 
mind,  dignify  the  character. 

Such  institutions  are  the  great  public  schools  of 
England,  and  the  great  Universities  ;  with  these 
influences,  and  some  others  to  which  I  just  now 
pointed,  they  have  formed  the  upper  class  of  this 
country — a  class  with  many  faults,  with  many 
shortcomings,  but  imbued,  on  the  whole,  and 
mainly  through  these  influences,  with  a  high,  mag- 
nanimous, governing  spirit,  which  has  long  enabled 
them  to  rule,  not  ignobly,  this  great  country,  and 
which  will  still  enable  them  to  rule  it  until  they  are 
equalled  or  surpassed.  These  institutions  had  their 
origin  in  endowments  ;  and  the  age  of  endowments 
is  gone.  Beautiful  and  venerable  as  are  many  of 
the  aspects  under  which  it  presents  itself,  this 
form  of  public  establishment  of  education,  with 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         103 

its  limitations,  its  preferences,  its  ecclesiastical 
character,  its  inflexibility,  its  inevitable  want  of 
foresight,  proved,  as  time  rolled  on,  to  be  subject 
to  many  inconveniences,  to  many  abuses.  On  the 
continent  of  Europe  a  clean  sweep  has  in  general 
been  made  of  this  old  form  of  establishment,  and 
new  institutions  have  arisen  upon  its  ruins.  In 
England  we  have  kept  our  great  school  and  college 
foundations,  introducing  into  their  system  what 
correctives  and  palliatives  were  absolutely  necessary. 
Long  may  we  so  keep  them  ! 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  66-67. 

Middle  Class  Education  and  the  State 

PEOPLE  talk  of  Government  interference,  Government 
control,  as  if  State-action  were  necessarily  something 
imposed  upon  them  from  without ;  something 
despotic  and  self-originated  ;  something  which  took 
no  account  of  their  will,  and  left  no  freedom  to  their 
activity.  Can  any  one  really  suppose  that,  in  a 
country  like  this,  State-action,  in  education  for 
instance,  can  ever  be  that,  unless  we  choose  to  make 
it  so  ?  We  can  give  it  what  form  we  will.  We  can 
make  it  our  agent,  not  our  master.  In  modern 
societies  the  agency  of  the  State,  in  certain  matters, 
is  so  indispensable,  that  it  will  manage,  with  or 
without  our  common  consent,  to  come  into  operation 
somehow  ;  but  when  it  has  introduced  itself  without 
the  common  consent — when  a  great  body,  like  the 
middle  class,  will  have  nothing  to  say  to  it — then 
its  course  is  indeed  likely  enough  to  be  not 


104         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

straightforward,  its  operation  not  satisfactory.  But, 
by  all  of  us  consenting  to  it,  we  remove  any  danger  of 
this  kind.  By  really  agreeing  to  deal  in  our  collec- 
tive and  corporate  character  with  education,  we  can 
form  ourselves  into  the  best  and  most  efficient  of 
voluntary  societies  for  managing  it.  We  can  make 
State-action  upon  it  a  genuine  local  government  of 
it,  the  faithful  but  potent  expression  of  our  own 
activity.  We  can  make  the  central  Government 
that  mere  court  of  disinterested  review  and  correction 
which  every  sensible  man  would  always  be  glad  to 
have  for  his  own  activity.  We  shall  have  all  our 
self-reliance  and  individual  action  still  (in  this 
country  we  shall  always  have  plenty  of  them,  and 
the  parts  will  always  be  more  likely  to  tyrannise 
over  the  whole  than  the  whole  over  the  parts),  but 
we  shall  have  had  the  good  sense  to  turn  them  to 
account  by  a  powerful,  but  still  voluntary,  organisa- 
tion. Our  beneficence  will  be  "  beneficence  acting 
by  rule,"  (that  is  Burke's  definition  of  law,  as  insti- 
tuted by  a  free  society),  and  all  the  more  effective 
for  that  reason.  Must  this  make  us  "a  set  of 
helpless  imbeciles,  totally  incapable  of  attending 
to  our  own  interests  ?  "  Is  this  "  a  grievous 
blow  aimed  at  the  independence  of  the  English 
character  ?  "  Is  "  English  self-reliance  and  inde- 
pendence "  to  be  perfectly  satisfied  with  what  it 
produces  already  without  this  organisation  ?  In 
middle  class  education  it  produces,  without  it,  the 
educational  home  and  the  classical  and  commercial 
academy.  Are  we  to  be  proud  of  that  ?  Are  we 
to  be  satisfied  with  that  ?  Is  "  the  greatness  of 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 


, 


this  country  "  to  be  seen  in  that  ?  But  it  will  be 
said  that,  awakening  to  a  sense  of  the  badness  of  our 
middle  class  education,  we  are  beginning  to  improve 
it.  Undoubtedly  we  are ;  and  the  most  certain 
sign  of  that  awakening,  of  those  beginnings  of 
improvement,  is  the  disposition  to  resort  to  a  public 
agency,  to  "  beneficence  working  by  rule,"  to  help 
us  on  faster  with  it. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  99-101. 


Public  Establishment  of  Secondary  Schools 

IN  that  great  class,  strong  by  its  numbers,  its  energy, 
its  industry,  strong  by  its  freedom  from  frivolity, 
not  by  any  law  of  nature  prone  to  immobility  of 
mind,  actually  at  this  moment  agitated  by  a  spread- 
ing ferment  of  mind, — in  that  class,  liberalised  by  an 
ampler  culture,  admitted  to  a  wider  sphere  of  thought, 
living  by  larger  ideas,  with  its  provincialism  dis- 
sipated, its  intolerance  cured,  its  pettinesses  purged 
away, — what  a  power  there  will  be,  what  an  element 
of  new  life  for  England.  Then  let  the  middle  class 
rule,  then  let  it  affirm  its  own  spirit,  when  it  has 
thus  perfected  itself.  J 

And  I  cannot  see  any  means  so  direct  and  powerful 
for  developing  this  great  and  beneficent  power  as 
the  public  establishment  of  schools  for  the  middle 
class.  By  public  establishment  they  may  be  made 
cheap  and  accessible  to  all.  By  public  establish- 
ment they  may  give  securities  for  the  culture  offered 
in  them  being  really  good  and  sound,  and  the 
best  that  our  time  knows.  By  public  establishment 


106         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

they  may  communicate  to  those  reared  in  them  the 
sense  of  being  brought  in  contact  with  their  country, 
with  the  national  life,  with  the  life  of  the  world  ;  and 
they  will  expand  and  dignify  their  spirits  by  com- 
municating this  sense  to  them.  I  can  see  no  other 
mode  of  institution  which  will  offer  the  same 
advantages  in  the  same  degree. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  126-127. 


Effect  of  Middle  Class  Education  on  the 
Working  Class 

I  HOPE  the  middle  class  will  not  much  longer  delay 
to  take  a  step  on  which  its  future  value  and  dignity 
and  influence  so  much  depend.  By  taking  this 
step  they  will  indirectly  confer  a  great  boon  upon 
the  lower  class  also.  This  obscure  embryo,  only 
just  beginning  to  move,  travailing  in  labour  and 
darkness,  so  much  left  out  of  account  when  we 
celebrate  the  glories  of  our  Atlantis,  now  and  then, 
by  so  mournful  a  glimpse,  showing  itself  to  us  in 
Lambeth,  or  Spitalfields,  or  Dorsetshire,  this  immense 
working  class,  now  so  without  a  practicable  passage 
to  all  the  joy  and  beauty  of  life,  for  whom  in  an 
aristocratic  class,  which  is  unattainable  by  them, 
there  is  no  possible  ideal,  for  whom  in  a  middle  class, 
narrow,  ungenial,  and  unattractive,  there  is  no 
adequate  ideal,  will  have,  in  a  cultured,  liberalised, 
ennobled,  transformed,  middle  class,  a  point  towards 
which  it  may  hopefully  work,  a  goal  towards  which 
it  may  with  joy  direct  its  aspirations. 

Children  of  the  future,  whose  day  has  not  yet 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         107 

dawned,  you,  when  that  day  arrives,  will  hardly 
believe  what  obstructions  were  long  suffered  to 
prevent  its  coming.  You  who,  with  all  your  faults 
have  neither  the  aridity  of  aristocracies,  nor  the 
narrow-mindedness  of  middle  classes,  you,  whose 
power  of  simple  enthusiasm  is  your  great  gift,  will 
not  comprehend  how  progress  towards  man's  best 
perfection — the  adorning  and  ennobling  of  his 
spirit — should  have  been  reluctantly  undertaken  ; 
how  it  should  have  been  for  years  and  years  retarded 
by  barren  commonplaces,  by  worn-out  clap-traps. 
You  will  wonder  at  the  labour  of  its  friends  in 
proving  the  self-proving  ;  you  will  know  nothing  of 
the  doubts,  the  fears,  the  prejudices  they  had  to 
dispel ;  nothing  of  the  outcry  they  had  to  encounter, 
of  the  fierce  protestations  of  life  from  policies 
which  were  dead,  and  did  not  know  it,  and  the 
shrill  querulous  upbraiding  from  publicists  in  their 
dotage.  But  you,  in  your  turn,  with  difficulties  of 
your  own,  will  then  be  mounting  some  new  step 
in  the  arduous  ladder  whereby  man  climbs  towards 
his  perfection ;  towards  that  unattainable  but 
irresistible  lode-star  gazed  after  with  earnest  longing, 
and  invoked  with  bitter  tears  ;  the  longing  of  thou- 
sands of  hearts,  the  tears  of  many  generations. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  130-132. 

National  Influence  of  the  Intellectual  Life 

THE  subject  being  secondary  instruction,  an  instruc- 
tion in  direct  correspondence  with  higher  instruc- 
tion and  intellectual  life,  I  cannot  admit  that  any 


io8         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

countries  are  more  worth  studying,  as  regards 
secondary  instruction,  than  those  in  which  intel- 
lectual life  has  been  carried  farthest — Germany 
first,  and,  in  the  second  degree,  France.  Indeed, 
I  am  convinced  that  as  Science,  in  the  widest  sense 
of  the  word,  meaning  a  true  knowledge  of  things  as 
the  basis  of  our  operations,  becomes,  as  it  does 
become,  more  of  a  power  in  the  world,  the  weight 
of  the  nations  and  men  who  have  carried  the  intel- 
lectual life  farthest  will  be  more  and  more  felt ; 
indeed,  I  see  signs  of  this  already.  That  England 
may  run  well  in  this  race  is  my  deepest  desire  ;  and 
to  stimulate  her  and  to  make  her  feel  how  many 
clogs  she  wears,  and  how  much  she  has  to  do  in 
order  to  run  in  it  as  her  genius  gives  her  the  power 
to  run,  is  the  object  of  all  I  do. 

1865.  "  Letters,"  i.  p.  245. 

Educative  Effect  of  the  Aristocratic  Ideal 

IN  Austria  one  feels  that  there  is  some  truth  in  the 
talk  which  in  England  sounds  such  rubbish  about 
the  accessibility  of  the  English  aristocracy,  but  what 
is  really  the  strength  of  England  is  the  immense 
extent  of  the  upper  class — the  class  with  much  the 
same  education  and  notions  as  the  aristocracy ;  this, 
though  it  has  its  dangers,  is  a  great  thing.  In 
Germany  there  is  no  such  thing,  and  the  whole 
middle  class  hates  refinement  and  disbelieves  in  it ; 
this  makes  North  Germany,  where  the  middle  class 
has  it,  socially  though  not  governmentally,  all  its 
own  way,  so  intensely  unattractive  and  disagreeable. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         109 

This  too  made  them  all  such  keen  Northerners. 
"  They  say  he  is  a  tailor,"  said  Haupt,  the  great 
classical  professor  of  Berlin,  of  Johnson  the  American 
president :  "  Gott  sey  dank  dass  er  ein  Schneider 
ist !  " 

,865.  "  Letters,"  i.  p.  305. 


Oxford 

BEAUTIFUL  city,  so  venerable,  so  lovely,  so  unravaged 
by  the  fierce  intellectual  life  of  our  century,  so  serene  ! 

There  are  our  young  barbarians,  all  at  play  ! 

And  yet,  steeped  in  sentiment  as  she  lies,  spread- 
ing her  gardens  to  the  moonlight,  and  whispering 
from  her  towers  the  last  enchantments  of  the  Middle 
Age,  who  will  deny  that  Oxford,  by  her  ineffable 
charm,  keeps  ever  calling  us  nearer  to  the  true 
goal  of  all  of  us,  to  the  ideal,  to  perfection,  to  beauty, 
in  a  word,  which  is  only  truth  seen  from  another 
side  ?  nearer,  perhaps  than  all  the  science  of 
Tubingen  ?  Adorable  dreamer,  whose  heart  has  been 
so  romantic,  who  hast  given  thyself  so  prodigally, 
given  thyself  to  sides  and  to  heroes  not  mine,  only 
never  to  the  Philistines  !  home  of  lost  causes,  and 
forsaken  beliefs,  and  unpopular  names,  and  im- 
possible loyalties  !  what  example  could  ever  so  in- 
spire us  to  keep  down  the  Philistine  in  ourselves, 
what  teacher  could  ever  so  save  us  from  that  bondage 
to  which  we  are  all  prone,  that  bondage  which 
Goethe,  in  his  incomparable  lines  on  the  death  of 
Schiller,  makes  it  his  friend's  highest  praise  (and 
nobly  did  Schiller  deserve  the  praise)  to  have  left 


no         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

miles  out  of  sight  behind  him ;  the  bondage  of 
"  was  uns  alle  bandigt,  DAS  GEMEINE  !  "  Oxford 
will  forgive  me,  even  if  I  have  unwittingly  drawn 
upon  her  a  shot  or  two  aimed  at  her  unworthy  son  ; 
for  she  is  generous,  and  the  cause  in  which  I  fight 
is,  after  all,  hers.  Apparitions  of  a  day,  what  is  our 
puny  warfare  against  the  Philistines,  compared 
with  the  warfare  which  this  queen  of  romance  has 
been  waging  against  them  for  centuries,  and  will 
wage  after  we  are  gone  ? 

Preface  to  "  Essays  in  Criticism,"  p.  xiii. 

Grammar  and  Science  Teaching 

IF  it  is  perception  you  want  to  cultivate  in  Florence, 
you  had  much  better  take  some  science  (botany  is 
perhaps  the  best  for  a  girl,  and  I  know  Tyndall 
thinks  it  the  best  of  all  for  educational  purposes), 
and  choosing  a  good  handbook,  go  regularly  through 
it  with  her.  Handbooks  have  long  been  the  great 
want  for  teaching  the  natural  sciences,  but  this 
want  is  at  last  beginning  to  be  supplied,  and  for 
botany  a  text-book  based  on  Henslow's  Lectures, 
which  were  excellent,  has  recently  been  published  by 
Macmillan.  I  cannot  see  that  there  is  much  got  out 
of  learning  the  Latin  Grammar  except  the  mainly 
normal  discipline  of  learning  something  much  more 
exactly  than  one  is  made  to  learn  anything  else ; 
and  the  verification  of  the  laws  of  grammar,  in  the 
examples  furnished  by  one's  reading,  is  certainly 
a  far  less  fruitful  stimulus  of  one's  powers  of  obser- 
vation and  comparison  than  the  verification  of  the 
laws  of  a  science  like  botany  in  the  examples 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         in 

furnished  by  the  world  of  nature  before  one's  eyes. 
The  sciences  have  been  abominably  taught,  and  by 
untrained  people,  but  the  moment  properly  trained 
people  begin  to  teach  them  properly  they  fill  such 
a  want  in  education  as  that  which  you  feel  in 
Florence's  better  than  either  grammar  or  mathema- 
tics, which  have  been  forced  into  the  service  because 
they  have  been  hitherto  so  far  better  studied  and 
known.  Grammar  and  pure  mathematics  will  fill 
a  much  less  important  part  in  the  education  of  the 
young  than  formerly,  though  the  knowledge  of  the 
ancient  world  will  continue  to  form  a  most  important 
part  in  the  education  of  mankind  generally.  But 
the  way  grammar  is  studied  at  present  is  an  obstacle 
to  this  knowledge  rather  than  a  help  to  it,  and  I 
should  be  glad  to  see  it  limited  to  learning  thoroughly 
the  example-form  of  words,  and  very  little  more — 
for  beginners,  I  mean.  Those  who  have  a  taste  for 
philosophical  studies  may  push  them  further,  and 
with  far  more  intelligible  aids  than  our  elementary 
grammars  afterwards.  So  I  should  inflict  on 
Florence  neither  Latin  nor  English  grammar  as 
an  elaborate  discipline  ;  make  her  learn  her  French 
verbs  very  thoroughly,  and  do  her  French  exercises 
very  correctly  ;  but  do  not  go  to  grammar  to  culti- 
vate in  her  the  power  you  miss,  but  rather  to  science. 

1866.  "Letters,"!,  p.  313. 


Class  Division  and  State  Authority 

NOT  that  I  do  not  think  it,  in  itself,  a  bad  thing 
that  the  principle  of  authority  should  be  so  weak 


H2         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

here  ;  but  whereas  in  France,  since  the  Revolution, 
a  man  feels  that  the  power  which  represses  him  in 
the  State,  is  himself,  here  a  man  feels  that  the  power 
which  represses  him  is  the  Tories,  the  upper  class, 
the  aristocracy,  and  so  on ;  and  with  this  feeling 
he  can,  of  course,  never  without  loss  of  self-respect 
accept  a  formal  beating,  and  so  the  thing  goes  on 
smouldering.  If  ever  there  comes  a  more  equal 
state  of  society  in  England,  the  power  of  the  State 
for  repression  will  be  a  thousand  times  stronger. 

"Letters,"  i.  p.  335. 


Public  Schools  and  the  Middle  Class 

WHEN  I  was  over  in  England  the  other  day,  my  poor 
friend  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  insisted,  with  his  usual 
blind  adoration  of  everything  English,  on  taking 
me  down  to  admire  one  of  your  great  public  schools  ; 
precious  institutions,  where,  as  I  tell  him,  for  £250 
sterling  a  year  your  boys  learn  gentlemanly  deport- 
ment and  cricket.  Well,  down  we  went,  and  in  the 
playing  fields  (which  with  you  are  the  school)  : 
"  I  declare,"  says  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold,  "  if  there 
isn't  a  son  of  that  man  you  quarrelled  with  in  the 
Reigate  train  !  And  there,  close  by  him,  is  the  son 
of  one  of  our  greatest  families,  a  Plantagenet !  It 
is  only  in  England,  Arminius,  that  this  beautiful 
salutary  intermixture  of  classes  takes  place.  Look 
at  the  bottle-merchant's  son  and  the  Plantagenet 
being  brought  up  side  by  side  ;  none  of  your  absurd 
separations  and  seventy-two  quarterings  here.  Very 
likely  young  Bottles  will  end  by  being  a  lord 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         113 

himself."  I  was  going  to  point  out  to  Mr.  Matthew 
Arnold  that  what  a  middle  class  wants  is  ideas, 
and  ideas  an  aristocracy  has  nothing  to  do  with  ; 
so  that  that  vulgar  dog,  Bottles,  the  father,  in 
sending  his  son  to  learn  only  cricket  and  a  gentle- 
manly deportment,  like  the  aristocracy,  had  done 
quite  the  wrong  thing  with  him. 

1866.  "  Friendship's  Garland,"  Letter  iv.  p.  25. 


The  Three  Classes  of  Philistine 

"  MY  dear  friend,"  says  he,  "  of  the  British 
species  of  the  great  genus  Philistine  there  are 
three  main  varieties.  There  is  the  religious 
Philistine,  the  well-to-do  Philistine,  and  the  rowdy 
Philistine.  The  religious  Philistine  is  represented 
by " 

"  Stop,  Arminius,"  said  I,  "  you  will  oblige  me 
by  letting  religion  alone  !  " 

"  As  you  please,"  answered  he  ;  "  well,  then, 
the  rowdy  Philistine  is  represented  by  the  Daily 
Telegraph,  and  the  well-to-do  Philistine  by  the  Times. 
The  well-to-do  Philistine  looks  to  get  his  own  view 
of  the  British  world,  that  it  is  the  best  of  all  possible 
worlds  as  it  is,  because  he  has  prospered  in  it, 
preached  back  to  him  ore  rotundo  in  the  columns 
of  the  Times.  There  must  be  no  uncertain  sound 
in  his  oracle,  no  faltering,  nothing  to  excite  mis- 
giving or  doubts ;  like  his  own  bosom,  everything 
his  oracle  utters  must  be  positive,  pleasant,  and 
comfortable.  So  of  course  about  the  great  first 


ii4         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

article  of  his  creed,  the  sacro-sanctity  of  property, 
there  must  in  the  Times  be  no  trifling." 

"  Friendship's  Garland,"  Letter  v.  p.  35. 
Stein's  Land  Reform 

"  WELL,  then,  what  did  Stein  do  ?  "  asked  I.  "  He 
did  this/'  Arminius  answered.  "  In  these  estates, 
where  the  landlord  had  his  property-right  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  tenant  his  tenant-right  on  the 
other,  he  made  a  compromise.  In  the  first  place 
he  assigned,  say,  two-fifths  of  the  estate  to  the  land- 
lord in  absolute  property,  without  any  further  claim 
of  tenant-right  upon  it  thenceforth  for  ever.  But 
the  remaining  three-fifths  he  compelled  the  landlord 
to  sell  to  the  tenant  at  eighteen  years'  purchase, 
so  that  this  part  should  become  the  tenant's  absolute 
property  thenceforth  for  ever.  You  will  ask,  where 
could  the  tenant  find  money  to  buy  ?  Stein  opened 
rent-banks  in  all  the  provincial  chief  towns,  to  lend 
the  tenant  the  purchase-money  required,  for  which 
the  State  thus  became  his  ci  editor,  not  the  landlord. 
He  had  to  repay  this  loan  in  a  certain  number  of 
years.  To  free  his  land  from  this  State  mortgage 
on  it  and  make  it  his  own  clear  property,  he  had 
every  inducement  to  work  hard,  and  he  did  work 
hard ;  and  this  was  the  grand  source  of  the  frugality, 
industry,  and  thrivingness  of  the  Prussian  peasant. 
It  was  the  grand  source,  too,  of  his  attachment  to 
the  State." 

"  It  was  rotten  bad  political  economy,  though," 
exclaimed  I.     "  Now  I  see  what  the  Times  meant 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         115 

by  saying  in  its  leading  article  yesterday  that 
Ireland  is  incomparably  better  governed  than  the 
United  States,  France,  Germany,  or  Italy,  because 
the  excellence  of  government  consists  in  keeping 
obstacles  out  of  the  way  of  individual  energy,  and 
you  throw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  your  great  pro- 
prietors' energy,  and  we  throw  none  in  the  way  of 
ours.  Talk  of  a  commutation  like  the  tithe-com- 
mutation, indeed  !  Why  it  was  downright  spolia- 
tion ;  it  was  just  what  Lord  Clanricarde  says  some 
people  are  driving  at  in  Ireland,  a  system  of  con- 
fiscation." 

"  Well,"  says  Arminius,  calmly,  "  that  is  exactly 
what  the  Prussian  junkers  called  it.  They  did  not 
call  it  commutation,  they  called  it  confiscation. 
They  will  tell  you  to  this  day  that  Stein  confiscated 
their  estates.  But  you  will  be  shocked  to  hear  that 
the  Prussian  Government  had,  even  before  Stein's 
time,  this  sad  habit  of  playing  tricks  with  political 
economy.  To  prevent  the  absorption  of  small 
proprietors  by  a  great  landed  aristocracy,  the 
Prussian  Government  made  a  rule  that  a  bauer-gut 
— a  peasant  property,  could  not,  even  if  the  owner 
sold  it,  be  bought  up  by  the  Lord  Clanricarde  of 
the  neighbourhood  ;  it  must  remain  a  bauer-gut  still. 
I  believe  you  in  England  are  for  improving  small 
proprietors  off  the  face  of  the  earth,  but  I  assure 
you  in  Prussia  we  are  very  proud  of  ours,  and 
think  them  the  strength  of  the  nation.  Of  late 
years  the  Hohenzollerns  have  taken  up  with  junkers, 
but  for  a  long  time  their  policy  was  to  uphold  the 
batter  class  against  the  junker  class  ;  and,  if  you 


n6         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

want  to  know  the  secret  of  the  hold  which  the  house 
of  Hohenzollern  has  upon  the  heart  of  the  Prussian 
people,  it  is  not  in  Frederick  the  Great's  victories 
that  you  will  find  it,  it  is  in  this  policy  of  their 
domestic  government." 

"  My  dear  Arminius,"  said  I,  "  you  make  me 
perfectly  sick.  Government  here,  government  there  ! 
We  English  are  for  self-government.  What  business 
has  any  Mr.  Stein  to  settle  that  this  or  that  estate 
is  too  large  for  Lord  Clanricarde's  virtues  to  expand 
in  ?  Let  each  class  settle  its  own  affairs,  and  don't 
let  us  have  Governments  and  Hohenzollerns  pre- 
tending to  be  more  enlightened  than  other  people, 
and  cutting  and  carving  for  what  they  call  the  general 
interest,  and  God  knows  what  nonsense  of  that 
kind.  If  the  landed  class  with  us  has  got  the  magis- 
tracy and  settled  estates  and  game  laws,  has  not 
the  middle  class  got  the  vestries,  and  business,  and 
civil  and  religious  liberty  ?  " 

"  Friendship's  Garland,"  Letter  v.  p.  36. 


Teaching  at  Eton  and  at  Lycurgus  House 

"Bur  I  want  to  know  what  his  nephew  learnt," 
interrupted  Arminius,  "  and  what  Lord  Lumpington 
learnt  at  Eton."  "  They  followed,"  said  I,  "  the 
grand,  old,  fortifying,  classical  curriculum."  "  Did 
they  know  anything  when  they  left  ?  "  asked  Armi- 
nius. "  I  have  seen  some  longs  and  shorts  of 
Hittall's,"  said  I,  "  about  the  Calydonian  Boar, 
which  were  not  bad.  But  you  surely  don't  need  me 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         117 

to  tell  you,  Arminius,  that  it  is  rather  in  training 
and  bracing  the  mind  for  future  acquisition — 
a  course  of  mental  gymnastics  we  call  it,  than  in 
teaching  any  set  thing,  that  the  classical  curriculum 
is  so  valuable."  "  Were  the  minds  of  Lord  Lump- 
ington  and  Mr.  Hittall  much  braced  by  their  mental 
gymnastics  ?  "  inquired  Arminius.  "  Well,"  I  ans- 
wered, "  during  their  three  years  at  Oxford  they 
were  so  much  occupied  with  Bullingdon  and  hunting 
that  there  was  no  great  opportunity  to  judge.  But 
for  my  part  I  have  always  thought  that  their  both 
getting  their  degree  at  last  with  flying  colours,  after 
three  weeks  of  a  famous  coach  for  fast  men,  four 
nights  without  going  to  bed,  and  an  incredible 
consumption  of  wet  towels,  strong  cigars,  and  brandy 
and  water,  was  one  of  the  most  astonishing  feats  of 
mental  gymnastics  I  ever  heard  of." 

"  That  will  do  for  the  land  and  the  Church," 
said  Arminius.  "  And  now  let  us  hear  about 
commerce."  "  You  mean  how  was  Bottles  edu- 
cated ?  "  answered  I.  "  Here  we  get  into  another 
line  altogether,  but  a  very  good  line  in  its  way,  too. 
Mr.  Bottles  was  brought  up  at  the  Lycurgus  House 
Academy,  Peckham.  You  are  not  to  suppose  from 
the  name  of  Lycurgus  that  any  Latin  and  Greek  was 
taught  in  the  establishment ;  the  name  only  in- 
dicates the  moral  discipline,  and  the  strenuous 
earnest  moral  character,  imparted  there.  As  to 
the  instruction,  the  thoughtful  educator  who  was 
principal  of  the  Lycurgus  House  Academy — Archi- 
medes Silverpump,  Ph.D.,  you  must  have  heard  of 
him  in  Germany  ? — had  modern  views.  '  We  must 


n8         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

be  men  of  our  age/  he  used  to  say.  '  Useful 
knowledge,  living  languages,  and  the  forming  of 
the  mind  through  observation  and  experiment, 
these  are  the  fundamental  articles  of  my  educational 
creed.'  Or,  as  I  have  heard  his  pupil  Bottles  put 
it  in  his  expansive  moments  after  dinner  (Bottles 
used  to  ask  me  to  dinner  till  that  affair  of  yours  with 
him  in  the  Reigate  train)  :  '  Original  man,  Silver- 
pump  !  fine  mind  !  fine  system  !  none  of  your 
antiquated  rubbish — all  practical  work — latest  dis- 
coveries in  science — mind  constantly  kept  excited — 
lots  of  interesting  experiments — lights  of  all  colours, 
fizz  !  fizz  !  bang  !  bang  !  That's  what  I  call 
forming  a  man.'  " 

"  And  pray,"  cried  Arminius,  impatiently,  "  what 
sort  of  man  do  you  suppose  this  infernal  quack  really 
formed  in  your  precious  friend  Mr.  Bottles  ?  " 
"  Well,"  I  replied,  "  I  hardly  know  how  to  answer 
that  question.  Bottles  has  certainly  made  an 
immense  fortune ;  but  as  to  Silverpump's  effect  on 
his  mind,  whether  it  was  from  any  fault  in  the 
Lycurgus  House  system,  whether  it  was  that  with 
a  sturdy  self-reliance  thoroughly  English,  Bottles, 
ever  since  he  quitted  Silverpump,  left  his  mind 
wholly  to  itself,  his  daily  newspaper,  and  the 
Particular  Baptist  minister  under  whom  he  sate, 
or  from  whatever  cause  it  was,  certainly  his  mind, 
qua  mind "  "  You  need  not  go  on,"  inter- 
rupted Arminius,  with  a  magnificent  wave  of  his 
hand,  "  I  know  what  that  man's  mind,  qua  mind, 
is,  well  enough." 

1867.  "  Friendship's  Garland,"  Letter  vi.  p.  49. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         119 

Compulsion  for  all  Classes  Alike 

"  You  were  talking  of  compulsory  education,  and 
your  common  people's  want  of  it.  Now,  my  dear 
friend,  I  want  you  to  understand  what  this  principle 
of  compulsory  education  really  means.  It  means 
that  to  ensure,  as  far  as  you  can,  every  man's  being 
fit  for  his  business  in  life,  you  put  education  as  a 
bar,  or  condition,  between  him  and  what  he  aims  at. 
The  principle  is  just  as  good  for  one  class  as  another, 
and  it  is  only  by  applying  it  impartially  that  you 
save  its  application  from  being  insolent  and 
invidious." 

"  Friendship's  Garland,"  Letter  vii.  p.  52. 
The  Welsh  Problem 

LET  me  venture  to  say  that  you  have  to  avoid  two 
dangers  in  order  to  work  all  the  good  which  your 
friends  could  desire.  You  have  to  avoid  the  danger 
of  giving  offence  to  practical  men  by  retarding  the 
spread  of  the  English  language  in  the  principality. 
I  believe  that  to  preserve  and  honour  the  Welsh 
language  and  literature  is  quite  compatible  with  not 
thwarting  or  delaying  for  a  single  hour  the  intro- 
duction, so  undeniably  useful,  of  a  knowledge  of 
English  among  all  classes  in  Wales.  You  have  to 
avoid,  again,  the  danger  of  alienating  men  of  science 
by  a  blind,  partial,  and  uncritical  treatment  of  your 
national  antiquities. 

When  I  see  the  enthusiasm  these  Eisteddfods 
can  awaken  in  your  whole  people,  and  then  think 
of  the  tastes,  the  literature,  the  amusements,  of 


120         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

our  own  lower  and  middle  class,  I  am  filled  with 
admiration  for  you.  It  is  a  consoling  thought,  and 
one  which  history  allows  us  to  entertain,  that 
nations  disinherited  of  political  success  may  yet 
leave  their  mark  on  the  world's  progress,  and 
contribute  powerfully  to  the  civilisation  of  mankind. 
We  in  England  have  come  to  that  point  when  the 
continued  advance  and  greatness  of  our  nation  is 
threatened  by  one  cause,  and  one  cause  above  all. 
Far  more  than  by  the  helplessness  of  an  aristocracy 
whose  day  is  fast  coming  to  an  end,  far  more  than 
by  the  rawness  of  a  lower  class  whose  day  is  only 
just  beginning,  we  are  emperilled  by  what  I  call 
the  "  Philistinism  "  of  our  middle  class.  On  the  side 
of  beauty  and  taste,  vulgarity  ;  on  the  side  of  morals 
and  feeling,  coarseness ;  on  the  side  of  mind  and 
spirit,  unintelligence — this  is  philistinism.  Now, 
then,  is  the  moment  for  the  greater  delicacy  and 
spirituality  of  the  Celtic  peoples  who  are  blended 
with  us,  if  it  be  but  wisely  directed,  to  make  itself 
prized  and  honoured.  In  a  certain  measure  the 
children  of  Taliesin  and  Ossian  have  now  an  oppor- 
tunity for  renewing  the  famous  feat  of  the  Greeks, 
and  conquering  their  conquerors.  No  service  Eng- 
land can  render  the  Celts  by  giving  you  a  share 
in  her  many  good  qualities,  can  surpass  that  which 
the  Celts  can  at  this  moment  render  England,  by 
communicating  to  us  some  of  theirs. 

"  The  Study  of  Celtic  Literature,"  Intr.  ix. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         121 
The  Bilingual  Question  (1867) 

I  MUST  say  I  quite  share  the  opinion  of  my  brother 
Saxons  as  to  the  practical  inconvenience  of  per- 
petuating the  speaking  of  Welsh.  It  may  cause  a 
moment's  distress  to  one's  imagination  when  one 
hears  that  the  last  Cornish  peasant  who  spoke  the 
old  tongue  of  Cornwall  is  dead  ;  but,  no  doubt,  Corn- 
wall is  the  better  for  adopting  English,  for  becoming 
more  thoroughly  one  with  the  rest  of  the  country. 
The  fusion  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  these  islands 
into  one  homogeneous,  English-speaking  whole,  the 
breaking-down  of  barriers  between  us,  the  swallowing 
up  of  separate  provincial  nationalities,  is  a  con- 
summation to  which  the  natural  course  of  things 
irresistibly  tends ;  it  is  a  necessity  of  what  is  called 
modern  civilisation,  and  modern  civilisation  is  a 
real,  legitimate  force  ;  the  change  must  come,  and 
its  accomplishment  is  a  mere  affair  of  time.  The 
sooner  the  Welsh  language  disappears  as  an  instru- 
ment of  the  practical,  political,  social  life  of  Wales, 
the  better ;  the  better  for  England,  the  better  for 
Wales  itself. 

"  The  Study  of  Celtic  Literature,"  p.  10. 

Payment  by  Results 

I  OBSERVE  one  or  two  of  my  colleagues  say  in  their 
reports  that  school  managers  get  pleased  with  the 
new  mode  of  examination,  and  with  the  idea  of  pay- 
ment by  results,  as  they  become  familiarised  with 
it.  I  think  this  is  very  true  ;  the  idea  of  payment 
by  results  was  just  the  idea  to  be  caught  up  by  the 


122         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

ordinary  public  opinion  of  this  country  and  to  find 
favour  with  it ;  no  doubt  the  idea  has  found  favour 
with  it,  and  is  likely,  perhaps,  to  be  pressed  by 
it  to  further  application.  But  the  question  is, 
not  whether  this  idea,  or  this  or  that  application  of 
it  suits  ordinary  public  opinion  and  school  managers  ; 
the  question  is  whether  it  really  suits  the  interests 
of  schools  and  of  their  instruction.  In  this  country 
we  are  somewhat  unduly  liable  to  regard  the  latter 
suitableness  too  little,  and  the  former  too  much. 
I  feel  sure,  from  my  experience  of  foreign  schools 
as  well  as  of  our  own,  that  our  present  system  of 
grants  does  harm  to  schools  and  their  instruction 
by  resting  its  grants  too  exclusively,  at  any  rate, 
upon  an  individual  examination,  prescribed  in  all 
its  details  beforehand  by  the  Central  Office,  and 
necessarily  mechanical ;  and  that  we  have  to 
relax  this  exclusive  stress  rather  than  to  go  on 
adding  to  it.  The  growing  interest  and  concern 
in  education  will  of  itself  tend  to  raise  and  swell 
the  instruction  in  the  primary  schools ;  if  we 
wish  fruitfully  to  co-operate  with  this  happy 
natural  movement  we  shall,  in  my  opinion,  best 
do  so  by  some  such  relaxation  as  that  which  I 
have  indicated. 

General  Report,  1867. 

Would  Compulsory  Education  Succeed? 

THROUGHOUT  my  district  I  find  the  idea  of  com- 
pulsory education  becoming  a  familiar  idea  with 
those  who  are  interested  in  schools.  I  imagine  that 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         123 

with  the  newly  awakened  sense  of  our  shortcomings 
in  popular  education — a  sense  which  is  just,  the 
statistics  brought  forward  to  dispel  it  being,  as  every 
one  acquainted  with  the  subject  knows,  entirely 
fallacious — the  difficult  thing  would  not  be  to  pass 
a  law  making  education  compulsory ;  the  difficult 
thing  would  be  to  work  such  a  law  after  we  had 
got  it.  In  Prussia,  which  is  so  often  quoted,  edu- 
cation is  not  flourishing  because  it  is  compulsory, 
it  is  compulsory  because  it  is  flourishing.  Because 
people  there  really  prize  instruction  and  culture,  and 
prefer  them  to  other  things,  therefore  they  have  no 
difficulty  in  imposing  on  themselves  the  rule  to 
get  instruction  and  culture.  In  this  country  people 
prefer  to  them  politics,  station,  business,  money- 
making,  pleasure,  and  many  other  things  ;  and  till 
we  cease  to  prefer  these  things,  a  law  which  gives 
instruction  the  power  to  interfere  with  them,  though 
a  sudden  impulse  may  make  us  establish  it,  cannot 
be  relied  on  to  hold  its  ground  and  to  work  effectively. 
When  instruction  is  valued  in  this  country  as  it  is 
in  Germany  it  may  be  made  obligatory  here  ;  mean- 
while the  best  thing  the  friends  of  instruction  can 
do  is  to  foment  as  much  as  they  can  the  national 
sense  of  its  value.  The  persevering  extension  of 
provisions  for  the  schooling  of  all  children  em- 
ployed in  any  kind  of  labour  is  probably  the  best 
and  most  practicable  way  of  making  education 
obligatory  that  we  can  at  present  take.  But  the 
task  of  seeing  these  provisions  carried  into  effect 
should  not  be  committed  to  the  municipal  authori- 
ties, less  trustworthy  with  us  than  in  France, 


124         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Germany,  or  Switzerland,  because  worse  chosen  and 
constituted. 

General  Report,  1867. 


The  choice  of  School  Books 

IN  this  country,  where  little  importance  is  attached 
to  the  science  of  public  administration,  a  public 
department  is  apt  first  to  attempt  to  exercise  a 
critical  function  with  insufficient  means,  and  then, 
when  the  result  appears  unsatisfactory,  hastily  to 
retreat  altogether  from  exercising  it.  The  better 
way,  perhaps,  would  be  to  exercise  it  properly. 
Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  the  school  administra- 
tion of  Germany  than  the  care  with  which  every 
branch  is  confided  to  experts,  and  experts  of  recog- 
nised expertness.  The  control  of  school  books  and 
school  examinations  in  literature  is  there  strictly 
given  to  persons  of  proved  qualifications  in  letters  ; 
the  control  of  school  books  and  school  examinations 
in  the  mathematical  and  natural  sciences  to  persons 
of  proved  qualifications  in  those  sciences ;  and  so 
on.  It  would  surely  be  well  if  we  followed  this 
example,  instead  of  either  exercising  this  control 
with  imperfect  instruments  or  abandoning  it  alto- 
gether, and  suffering  private  speculation  to  have 
unchecked  play. 

General  Report,  1867. 

The  Old  Private  School 

THE  stamp  of  plainness,  or  the  freedom  from  charla- 
tanism given  to  the  instruction  of  our  primary 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         125 

schools,  through  the  public  character  which  in  the 
last  thirty  years  it  has  received,  and  through  its 
having  been  thus  rescued,  in  great  measure,  from 
the  influences  of  private  speculation,  is  perhaps  the 
best  thing  about  them.  It  is  in  this  respect  that  our 
primary  schools  compare  so  favourably  with  the 
private  adventure  schools  of  the  middle  class,  that 
class  which,  Mr.  Bright  says,  is  perfectly  competent 
to  manage  its  own  schools  and  education.  The  work 
in  the  one  is  appraised  by  impartial  educated 
persons ;  in  the  other,  by  the  common  run  of 
middle-class  parents.  To  show  the  difference  in 
the  result,  I  will  conclude  by  placing  in  juxta- 
position a  letter  written  in  school  by  an  ordinary 
scholar  in  a  public  elementary  school  in  my  district, 
a  girl  of  eleven  years  old,  with  one  written  by  a 
boy  in  a  private  middle-class  school,  and  furnished 
to  one  of  the  Assistant  Commissioners  of  the  Schools 
Inquiry  Commission.  The  girl's  letter  I  give 
first  :— 

DEAR  FANNY, — I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  pass  in 

my  examination  ;  Miss  C says  she  thinks  I  shall. 

I  shall  be  glad  when  the  Serpentine  is  frozen  over, 
for  we  shall  have  such  fun  ;  I  wish  you  did  not  live 
so  far  away,  then  you  could  come  and  share  in  the 
game.  Father  cannot  spare  Willie,  so  I  have  as 
much  as  I  can  do  to  teach  him  to  cipher  nicely.  I 
am  now  sitting  by  the  school  fire,  so  I  assure  you  I 
am  very  warm.  Father  and  mother  are  very  well. 
I  hope  to  see  you  on  Christmas  Day.  Winter  is 
coming  ;  don't  it  make  you  shiver  to  think  of  ? 


126         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Shall  you  ever  come  to  smoky  old  London  again  ? 
It  is  not  so  bad,  after  all,  with  its  bustle  and  business 

and  noise.     If  you  see  Ellen  T will  you  kindly 

get  her  address  for  me.  I  must  now  conclude, 
as  I  am  soon  going  to  my  reading  class ;  so 
good-bye. 

From  your  affectionate  friend, 

M 

And  now  I  give  the  boy's  : — 

MY  DEAR  PARENTS, — The  anticipation  of  our 
Christmas  vacation  abounds  in  peculiar  delights. 
Not  only  that  its  "  festivities,"  its  social  gatherings, 
and  its  lively  amusements  crown  the  old  year  with 
happiness  and  mirth,  but  that  I  come  a  guest  com- 
mended to  your  hospitable  love  by  the  performance 
of  all  you  bade  me  remember  when  I  left  you  in  the 
glad  season  of  sun  and  flowers. 

And  time  has  sped  fleetly  since  reluctant  my 
departing  step  crossed  the  threshold  of  that  home 
whose  indulgences  and  endearments  their  temporary 
loss  has  taught  me  to  value  more  and  more.  Yet 
that  restraint  is  salutary,  and  that  self-reliance  is  as 
easily  learnt  as  it  is  laudable,  the  propriety  of  my 
conduct  and  the  readiness  of  my  services  shall  ere 
long  aptly  illustrate.  It  is  with  confidence  I  promise 
that  the  close  of  every  year  shall  find  me  advancing 
in  your  regard  by  constantly  observing  the  precepts 
of  my  excellent  tutors  and  the  example  of  my  ex- 
cellent parents. 

We  break  up  on  Thursday  the  nth  of  December 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         127 

instant,  and  my  impatience  of  the  short  delay  will 
assure  my  dear  parents  of  the  filial  sentiments  of 
Theirs  very  sincerely, 

N 

P.S. — We  shall  re-assemble  on  the  igth  of  January. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  P.  present  their  respectful  compli- 
ments. 

To  those  who  ask  what  is  the  difference  between  a 
public  and  a  private  school,  I  answer,  It  is  this. 

General  Report,  1867. 

Origin  of  our  Secondary  Schools 

POPULAR  education  has  sprung  out  of  the  ideas  and 
necessities  of  modern  times,  and  the  elementary 
school  for  the  poor  is  an  institution  which  has  no 
remote  history.  With  the  secondary  school  it  is 
otherwise.  The  secondary  school  has  a  long  history  ; 
through  a  series  of  changes  it  goes  back,  in  every 
European  country,  to  the  beginning  of  civilised 
society  in  that  country ;  from  the  time  when  this 
society  had  any  sort  of  organisation,  a  certain  sort 
of  schools  and  schooling  existed,  and  between  that 
schooling  and  the  schooling  which  the  children  of 
the  richer  class  of  society  at  this  day  receive  there  is 
an  unbroken  connection.  In  no  country  is  this 
continuity  of  secondary  instruction  more  visible 
than  in  France,  notwithstanding  her  revolutions  ; 
and  in  some  respects  France,  in  that  which  concerns 
the  historical  development  of  secondary  instruction, 
is  a  typical  country. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  p.  218. 


128         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

The  University  of  Paris 

ALL  the  countries  of  Western  Europe  had  their  early 
contact  with  Greek  and  Roman  civilisation,  a  con- 
tact from  which  their  actual  books  and  schools  and 
science  begin ;  France  had  this  more  than  any  of 
them,  except  Italy.  All  the  countries  of  Western 
Europe  had  hi  the  feudal  and  Catholic  Middle  Age 
their  universities,  under  whose  wings  were  hatched 
the  colleges  and  teachers  that  formed  the  germ  of 
our  actual  secondary  instruction  ;  and  the  great 
Middle  Age  university  was  the  University  of  Paris. 
Hither  repaired  the  students  of  other  countries  and 
other  universities,  as  to  the  main  centre  of  mediaeval 
science,  and  the  most  authoritative  school  of 
mediaeval  teaching.  It  received  names  expressing 
the  most  enthusiastic  devotion ;  the  fountain  of 
knowledge,  the  tree  of  life,  the  candlestick  of  the  house 
of  the  Lord.  "  The  most  famous  University  of  Paris, 
the  place  at  this  time  and  long  before  whither  the 
English,  and  mostly  the  Oxonians,  resorted,"  says 
Wood.  Tandem  fiat  hie  velut  Parisiis  .  .  .  ad  instar 
Parisiensis  studii  .  .  .  quemadmodum  in  Parisiensi 
studio  .  .  .,  say  the  rules  of  the  University  of 
Vienna,  founded  in  1365.  Here  came  Roger  Bacon, 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  Dante ;  here  studied  the 
founder  of  the  first  university  of  the  Empire,  Charles 
the  Fourth,  Emperor  of  Germany  and  King  of 
Bohemia,  founder  of  the  University  of  Prague  ; 
here  Henry  the  Second  in  the  twelfth  century 
proposed  to  refer  his  dispute  with  Becket ;  here, 
in  the  fourteenth  the  schism  in  the  papacy  and  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         129 

claims  of  the  rival  popes  were  brought  for  judgment. 
In  Europe  and  Asia,  in  foreign  cities  and  on  battle- 
fields, among  statesmen,  princes,  priests,  crusaders, 
scholars,  passed  in  the  Middle  Ages  this  word  of 
recognition,  Nos  fuimus  simul  in  Galandia — the 
Rue  de  Galande,  one  of  the  streets  of  the  old  univer- 
sity quarter,  the  quartier  latin  of  Paris. 

But  the  importance  of  the  University  in  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  was  extra- 
ordinary. Men's  minds  were  possessed  with  a 
wonderful  zeal  for  knowledge,  or  what  was  then 
thought  knowledge,  and  the  University  of  Paris 
was  the  great  fount  from  which  this  knowledge 
issued.  The  University  and  those  depending  on 
it  made  at  this  time,  it  is  said,  actually  a  third  of 
the  population  of  Paris  ;  when  the  University  went 
on  a  solemn  occasion  in  procession  to  St.  Denis,  the 
head  of  the  procession,  it  is  said,  had  reached  St. 
Denis  before  the  end  of  it  had  left  its  starting  place 
in  Paris.  It  had  immunities  from  taxation,  it  had 
jurisdiction  of  its  own,  and  its  members  claimed  to 
be  exempt  from  that  of  the  provost  of  Paris ;  the 
kings  of  France  strongly  favoured  the  University, 
and  leaned  to  its  side  when  the  municipal  and 
academical  authorities  were  in  conflict ;  if  at  any 
time  the  University  thought  itself  seriously  aggrieved 
it  had  recourse  to  a  measure  which  threw  Paris  into 
dismay — it  shut  up  its  schools  and  suspended  its 
lectures. 

In  a  body  of  this  kind  the  discipline  could  not 
be  strict,  and  the  colleges  were  created  to  supply 

K 


130          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

centres  of  discipline  which  the  University  in  itself, 
an  apparatus  merely  of  teachers  and  lecture-rooms, 
did  not  provide.  The  fourteenth  century  is  the 
time,  when,  one  after  another,  with  wonderful 
rapidity,  the  French  colleges  appeared.  Navarre, 
Montaigu,  Harcourt,  names  so  familiar  in  the 
school  annals  of  France,  date  from  the  first  quarter 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  College  of  Navarre 
was  founded  by  the  Queen  of  Philip  the  Fair,  in 
1304 ;  the  College  of  Montaigu,  where  Erasmus, 
Rabelais,  and  Ignatius  Loyola  were  in  their  time 
students,  was  founded  in  1314  by  two  members  of 
the  family  of  Montaigu,  one  of  them  Archbishop  of 
Rouen.  The  majority  of  these  colleges  were  founded 
by  magnates  of  the  church,  and  designed  to  maintain 
a  certain  number  of  bursars,  or  scholars,  during 
their  university  course.  Frequently  the  bursarships 
were  for  the  benefit  of  the  founder's  native  place, 
and  poverty,  of  which  among  the  students  of  that 
age  there  was  no  lack,  was  specified  as  a  title  of 
admission. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  210-212,  229-231. 

Paris  and  Oxford 

OUR  Stephen  Harding,  the  third  Abbot  of  Citeaux, 
and  the  true  founder  of  the  great  Order  of  the 
Cistercians,  was  studying  at  the  School  of  Paris 
in  1070.  The  name  of  Abelard  recalls  the  European 
celebrity  and  immense  intellectual  ferment  of  this 
school  in  the  twelfth  century.  But  it  was  in  the 
first  year  of  the  following  century,  the  thirteenth, 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION          131 

that  it  received  a  charter  from  Philip  Augustus, 
and  thenceforth  the  name  of  University  of  Paris 
takes  the  place  of  that  of  School  of  Paris.  Forty- 
nine  years  later  was  founded  University  College, 
Oxford,  the  oldest  College  of  the  oldest  English 
University.  Four  nations  composed  the  University 
of  Paris — the  nation  of  France,  the  nation  of  Picardy, 
the  nation  of  Normandy,  and  (signal  mark  of  the  close 
intercourse  which  then  existed  between  France  and 
us)  the  nation  of  England.  The  four  nations  united 
formed  the  faculty  of  arts.  The  faculty  of  theology 
was  created  in  1257,  tnat  °f  ^aw  m  I27I>  tnat  of 
medicine  in  1274.  Theology,  law,  and  medicine 
had  each  their  Dean ;  arts  had  four  Procurators, 
one  for  each  of  the  four  nations  composing  the 
faculty.  Arts  elected  the  rector  of  the  University 
and  had  possession  of  the  University  chest  and 
archives. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  226-227. 


Studies  in  the  University  of  Paris 

ONE  asks  oneself  with  interest  what  was  the  mental 
food  to  which  this  vast  turbulent  multitude  pressed 
with  such  inconceivable  hunger.  Theology  was  the 
great  matter ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  this 
study  was  by  no  means  always  that  barren  verbal 
trifling  which  an  ill-informed  modern  contempt  is 
fond  of  representing  it.  When  the  Bishop  of  Paris 
publicly  condemned  as  current  in  the  University, 
such  propositions  as  these  :  Quod  sermones  theologi 
sunt  fundati  in  fabulis :  Quod  nihil  plus  scitur 


132          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

propter  scire  theologiam  ;  Quod  fabulae  et  falsa  sunt 
in  lege  Christiana  sicut  et  in  aliis  ;  Quod  lex  Christiana 
impedit  addiscere ;  Quod  sapientes  mundi  sunt 
philosophi  tantum,  it  is  evident  that  around  the 
study  of  theology  in  the  mediaeval  University  of 
Paris  there  worked  a  real  ferment  of  thought,  and 
very  free  thought.  But  the  University  of  Paris 
culminated  as  the  exclusive  devotion  to  theological 
study  declined,  and  culminated  by  virtue  of  that 
declension.  A  teaching  body  with  a  lay  character 
could  not  have  been  created  by  the  simple  impulse 
to  theological  study.  The  glory  of  the  University 
of  Paris  was  its  Faculty  of  Arts,  its  artiens  as  they 
were  called  ;  it  was  among  the  students  in  this 
faculty  that  the  great  ardour  showed  itself,  the  great 
increase  in  numbers.  The  study  of  this  faculty 
was  the  seven  arts  of  the  trivium  and  quadrivium  ; 
the  three  arts  of  the  trivium  were  grammar,  rhe- 
toric, and  dialectic  ;  the  four  of  the  quadrivium, 
arithmetic,  geometry,  astronomy,  music.  This 
was  the  liberal  education  of  the  Middle  Age, 
and  it  came  direct  from  the  schools  of  ancient 
Rome. 

Such  an  education  was  apparently  possible  with 
the  programme  offered  by  the  seven  arts.  Rhetoric 
included  poetry,  history,  composition — the  human- 
ities in  general;  dialectic  took  in  the  whole  of 
philosophy. 

The  great  monastery  schools  of  Cluny,  Saint 
Victor,  and  the  Bernardines,  assigned  three  years 
to  grammatical  studies,  and  the  University  pro- 
fessed to  admit  to  its  teaching  no  student  who  was 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         133 

not  already  grounded  in  them ;    qui  nescit  paries, 
in  vanum  tendit  ad  artes. 

The  eminence  of  the  University  of  Paris  was  in 
the  scholastic  philosophy  ;  its  culminating  moment 
was  the  fourteenth  century,  its  greatness  was 
mediaeval.  It  did  not  follow  the  growth  of  the  time, 
assimilate  the  new  studies  of  the  Renaissance  and 
the  sixteenth  century,  make  itself  their  organ,  and 
animate  with  them  the  French  schools  of  which 
it  was  the  head. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  232-233,  234,  237. 


The  College  of  France 

THE  languor  of  the  retrograde  spirit  took  possession 
of  the  University,  and,  with  the  University,  of  the 
colleges  and  schools  of  France,  which  depended  on 
it.  The  one  learned  institution  which  imbibed  the 
spirit  of  the  Renaissance,  which  seriously  established, 
for  the  first  time  in  France,  instruction  in  Greek 
and  Hebrew,  which  kept  meeting  by  the  creation 
of  successive  chairs,  chairs  for  mathematics,  philo- 
spohy,  medicine  and  surgery,  anatomy  and  botany, 
the  wants  of  the  modern  spirit,  and  which  was 
spared  by  the  Revolution  when  all  the  other  public 
establishments  for  education  were  swept  away — 
the  College  of  France — this  institution  was  a  royal 
foundation  of  Francis  the  First's,  and  unconnected 
with  the  University. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  p.  238. 


134          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 


Schools  of  the  Jesuits 

THE  Jesuits  invaded  the  province  long  ruled  by  the 
University  alone.  By  that  adroit  management 
of  men  for  which  they  have  always  been  eminent, 
and  by  the  more  liberal  spirit  of  their  methods,  they 
outdid  in  popularity  their  superannuated  rival. 
Their  first  school  in  Paris  was  established  in  1565, 
and  in  1762,  two  years  before  their  dissolution, 
they  had  eighty-six  colleges  in  France.  They  were 
followed  by  the  Port  Royalists,  the  Benedictines, 
the  Oratorians.  The  Port  Royal  schools  from  which 
perhaps  a  powerful  influence  upon  education  might 
have  been  looked  for,  restricted  this  influence  by 
limiting  very  closely  the  number  of  their  pupils. 
Meanwhile  the  main  funds  and  endowments  for 
public  education  in  France  were  in  the  University's 
hands,  and  its  administration  of  these  was  as  in- 
effective as  its  teaching. 

Paid  or  gratuitous,  however,  its  instruction  was 
quite  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the  time,  and  when 
the  Jesuits  were  expelled  from  France  in  1764,  their 
establishments  closed,  and  their  services  as  teachers 
lost,  the  void  that  was  left  was  strikingly  apparent, 
and  public  attention  began  to  be  drawn  to  it.  It  is 
well  known  how  Rousseau  among  writers,  and 
Turgot  among  statesmen,  busied  themselves  with 
schemes  of  education  ;  but  the  interest  in  the  subject 
must  have  reached  the  whole  body  of  the  community, 
for  the  instructions  of  all  three  orders  of  the  States 
General  in  1789  are  unanimous  in  demanding  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         135 

reform  of  education,  and  its  establishment  on  a 
proper  footing. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  239-240. 

Condorcet's  Plan  of  Secondary  Education 

FOR  the  work  of  reconstruction  Condorcet's  memor- 
able plan  had  in  1792  been  submitted  to  the  Com- 
mittee of  Public  Instruction  appointed  by  the 
Legislative  Assembly.  This  plan  proposed  a 
secondary  school  for  every  4000  inhabitants  ;  for 
each  department,  a  departmental  institute  or 
higher  school ;  nine  lycees,  schools  carrying  their 
studies  yet  higher  than  the  departmental  institute, 
for  the  whole  of  France  ;  and  to  crown  the  edifice, 
a  National  Society  of  Sciences  and  Arts,  corre- 
sponding in  the  main  with  the  present  Institute  of 
France.  The  whole  expense  of  national  instruction 
to  be  borne  by  the  State. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  p.  241. 

Napoleon's  Work 

THE  present  secondary  instruction  of  France  dates 
directly  from  the  Consulate.  The  four  greatest 
of  the  old  schools  of  Paris  were  adopted,  renamed, 
and  set  to  work.  In  the  course  of  a  year  and  a  half 
30  lycees  and  250  secondary  schools  were  started 
and  in  operation.  More  than  350  private  schools 
received  aid,  while  inspectors-general  and  members 
of  the  Institute  traversed  France  to  ascertain  the 
educational  condition  of  the  country,  and  what  were 


136         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

its  most  pressing  requirements.  The  Normal  School, 
the  unique  and  best  part  of  French  secondary 
instruction,  was  launched  at  last ;  "a  boarding 
establishment  for  300  pupils,  for  the  purpose  of 
training  them  in  the  art  of  teaching  the  letters  and 
sciences."  In  1810  it  was  fairly  at  work.  Mean- 
while, from  1806  to  1808  Napoleon  had  established 
the  centre  in  which  all  these  schools,  and  all  the 
schools  of  France,  were  to  meet,  the  new  University, 
the  University  of  France. 

The  legislation  of  the  Empire  accomplished  little 
for  the  primary  instruction  of  France,  but  the 
secondary  instruction  it  established  on  a  firm 
footing,  and  with  the  organisation  which  in  the 
main  it  still  retains.  In  1809  a  statute  restored  to 
Greek  and  Latin  their  old  preponderance  in  this 
instruction,  effacing  a  mark  which  the  Revolution, 
by  the  prominence  given  to  scientific  and  mathe- 
matical studies,  had  left  upon  it.  It  thus  resumed  the 
mainly  classical  character  common  to  it  in  the 
corresponding  institutions  all  through  Europe. 

The  University  had  been  made  by  Napoleon  an 
endowed  corporation,  and  not  a  ministerial  depart- 
ment, in  order  to  give  it  more  stability  and  greater 
independence. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  245-246,  248,  252. 

Revenue  of  the  New  University  of  France 

THE  University  was  not  a  mere  department  of  that 
State,  it  was  an  endowed  corporation.  It  had  a 
revenue  of  about  2,500,000  francs.  Of  this  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         137 

fixed  part  proceeded  from  a  permanent  charge, 
granted  to  the  University,  of  400,000  francs  a  year 
upon  the  public  funds. 

The  variable  portion  of  the  University  revenues 
was  far  the  most  important.  This  consisted  of 
dues  paid  for  examination  and  degrees,  and  of  a 
contribution,  one-twentieth  of  the  fee  paid  for  their 
schooling,  from  all  the  scholars  in  the  secondary 
schools  of  France. 

In  1834,  after  a  long  discussion,  the  special  budget 
of  the  University  was  suppressed,  and  the  collection 
of  its  revenues  and  the  control  of  its  accounts 
assimilated  to  that  of  the  other  public  departments. 
It  was  left  in  the  possession  of  its  endowment  and 
property,  an  honour  more  nominal  than  real, 
since  it  no  longer  had  the  management  of  them  ; 
but  it  was  thought  that  by  retaining,  as  the  possessor 
of  an  endowment  and  property,  the  character  of  a 
personne  civile,  it  might  attract  bequests  and  fresh 
endowments,  of  which  a  department  of  State  had 
no  chance. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  247,  253-4. 

Guizot's  Law  of  Primary  Instruction 

THE  Government  of  Louis  Philippe,  having  under- 
taken the  serious  task  of  dealing  with  primary 
education,  was  unable  at  first  to  give  much  attention 
to  secondary ;  when,  however,  M.  Guizot's  memor- 
able law  of  1833  had  founded  primary  instruction, 
a  succession  of  ministers  set  themselves  to  improve 
and  develop  the  secondary  schools. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  251-252. 


138          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Ministry  and  Council   of  Public  Instruction 

THE  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  is  the  head  of 
this  vast  organisation.  His  office,  in  Paris,  has  six 
divisions,  under  himself  and  his  secretary-general. 
Each  of  these  six  divisions  has  its  chief,  and  is 
divided  into  two  bureaux,  each,  again,  with  its 
head.  First  come  the  three  divisions  for  superior 
instruction,  secondary  instruction,  primary  instruc- 
tion. The  first  bureau  of  each  of  these  is  for  the 
personnel  of  the  branch  of  public  instruction  adminis- 
tered by  the  division — treats,  that  is,  all  matters 
relating  to  appointment,  and  studies  ;  the  second 
bureau  is  for  the  materiel  and  comptabiliti — whatever 
relates  to  buildings,  finance  or  accounts.  The 
three  remaining  divisions  have  charge,  one,  of  the 
department's  business  with  the  Institute,  and  with 
the  public  libraries ;  another,  of  its  business  with 
the  scientific  and  literary  establishments  (such  as  the 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  the  French  School  at 
Athens,  the  observatories  of  Paris  and  Marseilles, 
etc.),  in  connection  with  it ;  the  third,  of  the  expense 
of  the  central  office,  and  of  the  general  revision  of 
the  whole  finance  and  accounts  of  the  department- 
Under  the  Minister's  presidency  is  the  Imperial 
Council  of  Public  Instruction,  which  in  concert  with 
him  fixes  the  programmes  of  study  in  the  State 
schools,  and  the  books  to  be  used  in  them.  It  is 
also  consulted  as  to  the  formation  of  new  State 
schools,  and  as  to  the  whole  legislation  and  regula- 
tion of  French  public  instruction.  The  important 
measures  which  have  lately  been  introduced  and 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         139 

passed  for  the  furtherance  of  professional  instruction, 
as  it  is  called — measures  of  which  I  shall  have  to 
speak  presently — were  all  of  them  thus  brought 
by  M.  Duruy,  the  present  minister,  before  the 
Council,  and  there  discussed.  Certain  members  of 
the  Council  formerly  proceeded  from  election ;  in 
1852,  under  the  pressure  which  then  caused,  in 
France,  the  strengthening  of  the  hand  of  government 
everywhere,  proposal  by  the  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction  and  nomination  by  the  President  of 
the  Republic  was  substituted  for  election  in  these 
cases.  The  Emperor  still  nominates  on  the  Minister's 
proposal ;  but  M.  Duruy's  disposition  has  certainly 
been  rather  to  enlarge  the  part  of  action  for  others 
than  to  keep  all  action  for  himself ;  thus  he  has 
lately  given  to  the  functionaries  of  public  instruction, 
whom  the  law  of  1852  gave  him  the  power  to  dismiss 
offhand,  the  security  of  a  committee  of  five,  chosen 
out  of  the  Council  of  Public  Instruction,  by  whom 
the  case  of  the  functionary  whose  conduct  may  be 
in  question  is  to  be  examined,  his  defence  heard, 
and  the  merits  of  the  case  reported  on. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  266,  267. 


The  Normal  School 

THE  pupils  of  the  Normal  School  (Ecole  Normale 
Supdrieure)  can  hold  the  place  of  professor  without 
being  agr/ges ;  but  they  cannot  hold  the  more 
important  and  better  paid  post  of  professeur  titulaire 
without  this  test ;  they  can  only  be  divisional,  acting, 
or  assistant  professors  (professeurs  divisionnaires, 


140         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

suppleants  or  adjoints).  And  the  examinations  of 
the  Normal  School  are  in  themselves  a  test,  and  a 
very  strict  one,  of  the  fitness  of  its  pupils  for  their 
business.  I  have  already  mentioned  this  admirable 
institution ;  it  enjoys  a  deserved  celebrity  out  of 
France  as  well  as  at  home,  and  nowhere  else  does 
there  exist  anything  quite  like  it.  Decreed  by  the 
revolutionary  Government,  and  set  to  work  by  that 
of  the  first  Napoleon,  it  had  two  periods  of  difficulty 
— one  under  the  Restoration,  when  it  attracted 
hostility  as  a  nest  of  liberalism,  and  it  was  proposed 
to  abate  its  importance  by  substituting  for  one 
central  Normal  School  several  local  ones  ;  another 
after  the  revolution  of  February,  when  the  grant 
to  it  was  greatly  reduced,  and  the  number  of  its 
pupils  fell  off.  But  it  has  now  recovered  its  grants 
and  its  numbers,  and  few  institutions  in  France  are 
so  rooted  in  the  public  esteem.  Its  main  function 
is  to  form  teachers  for  the  public  schools.  It  has 
two  divisions ;  one  literary,  the  other  scientific. 
Its  pupils  at  present  number  no  ;  they  are  all 
bursars,  holding  a  scholarship  of  £40  a  year,  which 
entirely  provides  for  the  cost  of  their  maintenance. 
The  course  is  a  three  years'  one ;  but  a  certain 
number  of  the  best  pupils  are  retained  for  a  fourth 
and  fifth  year ;  these,  however,  are  lost  to  the 
secondary  schools,  being  prepared  for  the  doctorate 
and  for  the  posts  of  superior  instruction,  such  as 
the  professorships  in  the  faculties. 

Last  year  344  candidates  presented  themselves 
for  35  vacancies,  and  these  candidates  were  all 
picked  men.  To  compete,  a  youth  must  in  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         141 

first  place  be  over  18  years  of  age  and  under  24, 
must  produce  a  medical  certificate  that  he  has  no 
bodily  infirmity  unfitting  him  for  the  function  of 
teacher,  and  a  good-conduct  certificate  from  his 
school.  He  must  enter  into  an  engagement  to  devote 
himself,  if  admitted,  for  10  years  to  the  service  of 
public  instruction,  and  he  must  hold  the  degree  of 
bachelor  of  arts  if  he  is  a  candidate  in  the  literary 
section  of  the  school,  of  bachelor  of  sciences  if  in 
the  scientific.  He  then  undergoes  a  preliminary 
examination,  which  is  held  at  the  same  time  at  the 
centre  of  each  academy  throughout  France.  This 
examination  weeds  the  candidates ;  those  who 
pass  through  it  come  up  to  Paris  for  a  final  examina- 
tion at  the  Ecole  Normale,  and  those  who  do  best  in 
this  final  examination  are  admitted  to  the  vacant 
scholarships.  A  bare  list  of  subjects  of  examination 
is  never  very  instructive  ;  the  reader  will  better 
understand  what  the  final  examination  is,  if  I  say 
that  the  candidates  are  the  very  /lite  of  the  lycees, 
who  in  the  highest  clasess  of  these  lyctes  have  gone 
through  the  course  of  instruction,  literary  or  scientific, 
there  prescribed.  In  the  scientific  section  of  the 
Normal  School  the  first  year's  course  comprehends 
the  differential  and  integral  calculus,  and  it  will  at 
once  be  seen  what  advanced  progress  in  the  pupil 
such  a  course  implies. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  279,  283-285. 

Oxford  and  Cambridge  as  higher  Lycees 
EVERY  Englishman  who  has  been  at   Oxford  or 
Cambridge  must  in  France  remark  with  surprise 


142         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

that  institutions  like  these  universities  of  ours, 
taking  a  young  man  at  the  age  of  eighteen  or  nine- 
teen, and  continuing  his  education,  with  the  shelter 
of  a  considerable,  though  modified  control  and 
discipline  till  the  age  of  twenty-three  or  twenty-four, 
seem  to  be  there,  for  laymen,  quite  wanting.  It  is 
true  that  in  France,  as  in  Germany,  there  is  a  superior 
instruction,  a  faculty  instruction,  much  more  com- 
plete than  ours,  and  that  our  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
are,  in  fact,  as  Signer  Matteucci,  who  has  studied 
them  well,  said  to  me  at  Turin,  not  establishments 
of  superior  instruction  at  all,  but  simply  hauls 
lycees.  This  is  true,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  we 
have  not  a  better  organised  superior  instruction  ; 
still  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  in  prolonging  a  young 
man's  term  of  tuition  and  prolonging  it  under 
discipline,  instead  of  his  being  thrown  at  large  on  the 
life  of  a  great  city,  Paris  or  London,  where  he  follows 
lectures,  are  invaluable,  and  it  is  in  this  direction 
that  foreigners  may  find  most  to  envy  in  English 
education. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  p.  281. 

French  and  English  Masters 

A  FRENCH  professor  has  his  three,  four,  or  five 
hours'  work  a  day  in  lessons  and  conferences,  and 
then  he  is  free  ;  he  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
discipline  or  religious  teaching  of  the  lycee,  he  has 
not  to  live  in  its  precincts  ;  he  finishes  his  teaching 
and  then  he  leaves  the  lycee  and  its  cares  behind  him 
altogether.  The  provisor,  the  censor,  the  chaplains, 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         143 

the  superintendents,  have  the  business  of  govern- 
ment and  direction,  and  they  are  chosen  on  the 
ground  of  their  aptitude  for  it.  A  young  man 
wishing  to  follow  a  profession  which  keeps  him  in 
contact  with  intellectual  studies  and  enables  him  to 
continue  them,  but  who  has  no  call  and  no  talent 
for  the  trying  post  of  teacher,  governor,  pastor, 
and  man  of  business  all  in  one,  will  hesitate  before 
he  becomes  a  master  in  an  English  public  school, 
but  he  may  very  well  become  a  professor  in  a  French 
one.  Accordingly  the  service  of  public  instruction 
in  France  attracts  a  far  greater  proportion  of  the 
intellectual  force  of  the  country  than  in  England. 

Two  of  the  most  eminent  of  modern  Frenchmen, 
M.  Cousin  and  M.  Villemain,  were  originally  pro- 
fessors in  the  French  public  schools  ;  they  were  both, 
also,  Ministers  of  Public  Instruction.  M.  Duruy, 
the  present  Minister,  was  a  professor,  an  author  of 
a  very  good  school-book,  and  an  inspector.  M.  Taine 
and  M.  Prevost-Paradol,  personages  so  important  in 
the  French  literature  of  the  present  day,  were  both  of 
them  distinguished  pupils  of  the  Normal  School.  It 
is  clear  that  this  abundance  of  eminent  names  gives 
dignity  and  consideration  to  the  profession  of  public 
teaching  in  France  ;  it  tends  to  keep  it  fully  supplied, 
and  with  men  who  carry  weight  with  the  pupils 
they  teach  and  command  their  intellectual  respect. 
And  this  is  a  very  important  advantage. 

I  was  informed  that  from  all  these  sources  the 
income  of  an  able  Paris  professor  of  the  first  rank 
in  his  calling  reached  very  nearly  10,000  francs  (£400) 
a  year.  For  my  own  part  I  would  sooner  have  this, 


144         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

with  the  freedom  and  leisure  a  French  professor  has 
with  it,  than  £800  a  year  as  one  of  the  under  masters 
of  a  public  school  in  England. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  288,  290-292. 

Examinations  in  France  and  England 

THE  French  lycees  are  guiltless  of  one  preposterous 
violation  of  the  laws  of  life  and  health  committed 
by  our  own  great  schools,  which  have  of  late  years 
thrown  open  to  competitive  examination  all  the 
places  on  their  foundations.  The  French  have 
plenty  of  examinations  ;  but  they  put  them  almost 
entirely  at  the  right  age  for  examinations,  between 
the  years  of  fifteen  and  twenty-five,  when  the 
candidate  is  neither  too  old  nor  too  young  to  be 
examined  with  advantage.  To  put  upon  little 
boys  of  nine  or  ten  the  pressure  of  a  competitive 
examination  for  an  object  of  the  greatest  value  to 
their  parents,  is  to  offer  a  premium  for  the  violation 
of  nature's  elementary  laws,  and  to  sacrifice,  as  in 
the  poor  geese  fatted  for  Strasburg  pies,  the  due 
development  of  all  the  organs  of  life  to  the  premature 
hypertrophy  of  one.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
cramming  of  the  little  human  victims  for  their  ordeal 
of  competition  tends  more  and  more  to  become  an 
industry  with  a  certain  class  of  small  schoolmasters, 
who  know  the  secrets  of  the  process,  and  who  are 
led  by  self-interest  to  select  in  the  first  instance  their 
own  children  for  it.  The  foundations  are  no  gainers, 
and  nervous  exhaustion  at  fifteen  is  the  price  which 
many  a  clever  boy  pays  for  over-stimulation  at 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         145 

ten ;  and  the  nervous  exhaustion  of  a  number  of 
our  clever  boys  tends  to  create  a  broad  reign  of 
intellectual  dullness  in  the  mass  of  youths  from 
fifteen  to  twenty,  whom  the  clever  boys,  had  they 
been  rightly  developed  and  not  unnaturally  forced, 
ought  to  have  leavened.  You  can  hardly  put  too 
great  a  pressure  on  a  healthy  youth  to  make  him 
work  between  fifteen  and  twenty-five ;  healthy  or 
unhealthy,  you  can  hardly  put  on  him  too  light  a 
pressure  of  this  kind  before  twelve. 

The  bursarships  in  the  lycees  are,  therefore,  not 
given  away  by  competitive  examination  among 
children  from  eight  to  twelve ;  they  are  given  on 
the  ground  of  poverty,  either  to  the  children  of 
persons  having  some  public  claim,  or  to  the  most 
promising  subjects  from  the  primary  schools.  This 
seems  to  me  quite  right,  and  I  wish  the  English 
reader  to  remark  how  here,  as  elsewhere,  we  suffer 
from  our  dread  of  effective  administration  and  from 
the  feudal  and  incoherent  organisation  of  our  society. 
In  the  hands  of  individuals  and  small  local  bodies 
patronage  like  that  of  our  foundation  schools 
becomes  outrageously  jobbed ;  at  last  the  public 
attention  gets  directed  to  this,  and  the  patronage 
has  to  be  otherwise  dealt  with  ;  but  there  is  no  body 
of  trained  and  competent  persons  with  authority 
to  decide  deliberately  how  it  may  best  be  dealt  with  ; 
so  it  ends  by  the  local  people  through  whose  laches 
the  difficulty  has  arisen  throwing  a  sop  to  Cerberus, 
and  gratifying  an  ignorant  public's  love  of  clap-trap 
by  throwing  everything  open  to  competitive  examina- 
tion. On  the  Continent,  there  is  an  Education 

L 


146          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Minister  and  a  Council  of  Public  Instruction  to 
weigh  matters  of  this  kind ;  so  far  from  jobbing 
being  promoted  by  this,  the  examination  test  is 
much  more  strictly  applied  in  France  than  with 
us,  but  there  is  a  competent  authority  to  decide 
when  it  is  rational  to  apply  it,  and  when  absurd. 
Neither  are  there  any  complaints  of  the  way  the 
lycee  bursarships — it  being  judged  best  not  to  give 
these  by  competitive  examination — are  distributed  ; 
because  here  again  all  that  is  done  is  done  with  the 
safeguards  of  joint  action  between  several  competent 
agencies,  of  publicity,  and  of  responsibility.  It  is 
a  mistake  to  suppose  that  a  government  bureau, 
in  an  administrative  organisation  like  that  of  France, 
has  no  checks  ;  it  has  far  more  checks  than  a  govern- 
ment bureau  here,  which  has  been  extemporised 
to  meet  some  urgent  want,  and  is  not  part  of  a 
well-devised  whole.  The  secretary  of  our  Education 
Department  is  almost  invited  to  settle  of  his  own 
authority  education-questions  which  M.  Duruy, 
though  a  minister,  would  not  settle  without  referring 
them  to  a  Council  composed  as  we  have  seen.  Nay, 
and  even  supposing  our  secretary  refers  them  to 
his  chiefs  and  they  refer  them  to  the  Committee  of 
Council — how  is  this  Committee  of  Council  com- 
posed ?  Of  three  or  four  Cabinet  Ministers  with  no 
special  acquaintance  with  educational  matters. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  328-331. 

Private  Schools  in  France  and  England 

PRIVATE  or  free  schools  in  France  are  not  free  in 
the  sense  that  any  man  may  keep  one  who  likes. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION          147 

To  keep  one  a  man  must  be  twenty-five  years  old, 
must  have  had  five  years'  practice  in  a  school,  and 
must  hold  either  the  degree  of  bachelor,  or  a  certificate 
which  is  given  after  an  examination  of  the  same 
nature  as  the  examination  he  would  have  to  pass 
for  the  degree  of  bachelor.  Thus,  he  cannot,  as 
in  England,  be  perfectly  ignorant  and  inexperienced 
hi  his  business ;  neither  can  he,  as  in  England,  be 
a  ticket-of-leave-man,  for  the  French  law  declares 
every  man  who  has  undergone  a  criminal  condemna- 
tion incapable  of  keeping  a  school.  Neither  can  he 
have  his  school-room  in  ruins  or  under  conditions 
dangerous  to  his  pupil's  health  or  morality ;  for  if 
it  is  a  new  school  he  is  establishing,  he  has  to  signify 
his  intention  beforehand  to  the  academic  authority 
of  his  department,  and  if  this  authority  makes 
objection,  the  Council  of  Public  instruction  in  Paris, 
in  the  last  resort,  decides.  If  within  a  month  the 
academic  authority  makes  no  objection,  he  is  then 
free  to  open  his  school ;  but  it  is  at  all  times  liable 
to  inspection  by  the  academic  authority  or  the 
inspectors-general  of  secondary  instruction,  to  ascer- 
tain that  nothing  contrary  to  health,  morality,  or 
the  law,  is  suffered  to  go  on  there.  The  inspector 
of  a  school  of  this  kind  does  not  meddle  with  its 
instruction. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  337-338. 


Discipline  in  French  and  English  Schools 

OUR  government  through  prepositors  or  prefects, 
and  our  fagging,  are  unknown  in  French  schools ; 


148          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

for  the  former,  the  continual  presence  and  super- 
vision of  the  maitre  d 'etude  leaves  no  place ;  the 
latter  is  abhorrent  to  French  ideas.  The  set  of 
modern  opinion  is  undoubtedly  against  fagging, 
and  perhaps  also  against  government  through  the 
sixth  form ;  one  may  doubt,  however,  whether  the 
force  of  old  and  cherished  custom,  the  removal  of 
excess  and  abuses  in  the  exercise  of  these  two  powers, 
and  certain  undeniable  benefits  attending  that  of, 
at  any  rate,  the  latter  of  the  two,  may  not  yet  long 
preserve  them  in  the  great  English  schools.  The 
same  can  hardly  be  said  of  flogging,  which,  without 
entering  into  long  discussions  about  it,  one  may  say 
the  modern  spirit  has  irrevocably  condemned  as  a 
school  punishment,  so  that  it  will  more  and  more 
come  to  appear  half  disgusting,  half  ridiculous,  and 
a  teacher  will  find  it  more  and  more  difficult  to  inflict 
it  without  a  loss  of  self-respect.  The  feeling  on  the 
Continent  is  very  strong  on  this  point.  The  punish- 
ments in  the  French  schools  are  impositions  and 
confinement. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  366-367. 

Growing  Disbelief  in  Greek  and  Latin 
As  one  may  say  of  flogging,  that  the  set  of  the 
modern  spirit  is  so  decisively  against  it  that  it  is 
doomed,  whatever  plausible  arguments  may  be 
urged  on  its  behalf,  so  is  the  set  of  the  modern  spirit 
so  decisively  in  favour  of  the  new  instruction,  that 
M.  Duruy's  creation,  whatever  reasons  may  be  given 
why  it  should  not  succeed,  will  probably  in  the  end 
succeed  in  some  shape  or  other.  This  current  of 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         149 

opinion  is,  indeed,  on  the  Continent,  so  wide  and 
strong  as  to  be  fast  growing  irresistible ;  and  it  is 
not  the  work  of  authority.  Authority  does  all  that 
can  be  done  in  favour  of  the  old  classical  training  ; 
ministers  of  State  sing  its  praises  ;  the  reporter  of 
the  Commission  charged  to  examine  the  new  law 
is  careful  to  pay  to  the  old  training  and  its  pre- 
eminence a  homage  amusingly  French.*  Men  of 
the  world  envy  us  a  House  of  Commons  where 
Latin  quotations  are  still  made,  school  authorities 
are  full  of  stories  to  show  how  boys  trained  in  Latin 
and  Greek  beat  the  pupils  of  the  new  instruction 
even  in  their  own  field.  Still  in  the  body  of  society 
there  spreads  a  growing  disbelief  in  Greek  and 
Latin,  at  any  rate,  as  at  present  taught,  a  dis- 
position to  make  modern  languages  and  the  natural 
sciences  take  their  place.  I  remark  this  in  Germany 
as  well  as  in  France ;  and  in  Germany,  too,  as 
in  France,  the  movement  is  in  no  wise  due  to  the 
school  authorities,  but  is  rather  in  their  despite, 
and  against  their  advice  and  testimony.  I  shall 
have  an  opportunity,  by  and  by,  to  say  a  few 
words  respecting  what  appears  to  me  the  real  import 
of  this  movement,  and  the  part  of  truth  and  of  error 
in  the  ideas  which  favour  it.  All  I  wish  now  to  lay 
stress  upon  is  its  volume  and  irresistibility. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  394-395. 


*  "  On  ne  saurait  trop  exalter  1'importance  sociale  des 
lettres  classiques.  Ce  sont  elles  qui  ont  assure  depuis  des  siecles  la 
suprematie  intellectuelle  de  la  France" — Enseignement  secondaire 
special,  p.  438. 


150         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Appointment  by  Examination 

PUBLIC  establishments  such  as  these  which  I  have 
enumerated  serve  a  twofold  purpose.  They  fix  a 
standard  of  serious  preparation  and  special  fitness 
for  every  branch  of  employment ;  a  standard  which 
acts  on  the  whole  intellectual  habit  of  the  country. 
To  fix  a  standard  of  serious  preparation  is  a  very 
different  thing,  and  a  far  more  real  homage  to 
intelligence  and  study,  than  to  demand — as  we  have 
done  since  the  scandal  of  our  old  mode  of  appoint- 
ment to  public  functions  grew  too  evident — a  single 
examination,  by  a  single  board  with  a  staff  of 
examiners,  as  a  sole  preliminary  to  all  kinds  of  civil 
employment.  Examinations  preceded  by  prepara- 
tion in  a  first-rate  superior  school,  with  first-rate 
professors,  give  you  a  formed  man  ;  examinations 
preceded  by  cramming  under  a  crammer  give  you 
a  crammed  man,  but  not  a  formed  one.  I  once 
bore  part  in  the  examinations  for  the  Indian  Civil 
Service,  and  I  can  truly  say  that  the  candidates 
to  whom  I  gave  the  highest  marks  were  almost 
without  exception  the  candidates  whom  I  would 
not  have  appointed.  They  were  crammed  men,  not 
formed  men ;  the  formed  men  were  the  public 
school  men,  but  they  were  ignorant  on  the  special 
matter  of  examination — English  literature.  A 
superior  school  forms  a  man  at  the  same  time  that 
it  gives  him  special  knowledge. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  p.  412. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION          151 

Value  of  Public  Establishments 

/  A  SECOND  purpose  which  such  public  establishments 
^serve  is  this.  pThey  represent  the  State,  the  country, 
the  collective  community,  in  a  striking  visible  shape, 
which  is  at  the  same  time  a  noble  and  civilising  one  ; 
giving  the  people  something  to  be  proud  of,  and  which 
it  does  them  good  to  be  proud  of.J  The  State  is  in 
England  singularly  without  means"  of  civilisation  of 
this  kind.  But  a  modern  state  cannot  afford  to  do 
without  them,  and  the  action  of  individuals  and 
corporations  cannot  fully  compensate  for  them 
the  want  of  them  has  told  severely  on  the  intelligenc  e 
and  refinement  of  our  middle  and  lower  class.  It 
makes  a  difference  to  the  civilisation  of  these  classe  s 
whether  it  is  the  Louvre  which  represents  their 
country  to  them,  or  the  National  Gallery ;  and 
whether  the  State  consecrates  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people  the  great  lines  of  intellectual  culture  by 
national  institutions  for  them,  or  leaves  them  to 
take  care  of  themselves.  What  the  State,  the 
collective  permanent  nation,  honours,  the  passing 
people  honour  ;  what  the  State  neglects,  they  think 
of  no  great  consequence. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  414-415. 

Motto  from  Humboldt 

"  The  thing  is  not  to  let  the  schools  and  universi- 
ties go  on  in  a  drowsy  and  impotent  routine  ;  the 
thing  is,  to  raise  the  culture  of  the  nation  ever 
higher  and  higher  by  their  means." 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  iv. 


152          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

The  Experience  of  the  Continent 

IT  is  expedient  for  the  satisfactory  resolution  of 
those  educational  questions,  which  are  at  length 
beginning  seriously  to  occupy  us,  both  that  we  should 
attend  to  the  experience  of  the  Continent,  and  that 
we  should  know  precisely  what  it  is  which  this 
experience  says.  As  to  compulsory  education, 
denominational  education,  secular  education,  the 
Continental  precedents  are  to  be  studied  ;  and  they 
are  to  be  studied  for  the  sake  of  seeing  what  they 
really  mean,  and  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  furnishing 
ourselves  with  help  from  them  for  some  thesis  which 
we  uphold. 

Most  English  "Liberals  seem  persuaded  that  our 
elementary  schools  should  be  undenominational, 
and  their  teaching  secular  ;  and  that  with  a  system 
of  public  elementary  schools  it  cannot  well  be  other- 
wise. Let  us  clearly  understand,  however,  that  on 
the  Continent  generally,  everywhere  except  in 
Holland,  the  public  elementary  school  is  denomina- 
tional ;  *  and  its  teaching  religious  as  well  as 
secular. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  ix. 

Compulsory  Education 

THEN,  again,  as  to  compulsory  education.  The 
example  of  the  Continent  proves,  and  nothing  which 
Mr.  Pattison  or  I  have  said  disproves,  that  in 
general,  where  popular  education  is  most  prosperous, 
there  it  is  also  compulsory.  The  compulsoriness 

•  Of  course  with  what  we  should  call  a  conscience  clause. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         153 

is  in  general,  found  to  go  along  with  the  prosperity, 
though  it  cannot  be  said  to  cause  it ;  but  the  same 
high  value  among  a  people  for  education  which 
leads  to  its  prospering  among  them,  leads  also  in 
general  to  its  being  made  compulsory.  Where  the 
value  for  it  is  not  ardent  enough  to  make  it,  as  it  is 
in  Prussia  and  Zurich,  compulsory,  it  is  not,  for  the 
most  part,  ardent  enough  to  give  it  the  prosperity 
it  has  in  Prussia  and  Zurich.  After  seeing  the 
schools  of  North  Germany  and  of  German  Switzer- 
land, I  am  strongly  of  this  opinion. 

But  the  English  friends  of  compulsory  education, 
in  their  turn,  will  do  well  to  inform  themselves  how 
far  on  the  Continent  compulsory  education  extends, 
and  the  conditions  under  which  alone  the  working 
classes,  if  they  respect  themselves,  can  submit  to 
its  application.  In  the  view  of  the  English  friends 
of  compulsory  education,  the  educated  and  in- 
telligent middle  and  upper  classes  among  us  are  to 
confer  the  boon  of  compulsory  education  upon  the 
ignorant  lower  class  which  needs  it  while  they  do  not. 
But  on  the  Continent,  instruction  is  obligatory  for 
lower,  middle,  and  upper  class  alike.  I  doubt 
whether  our  educated  and  intelligent  classes  are  at 
all  prepared  for  this.  I  have  an  acquaintance  in 
easy  circumstances,  of  distinguished  connections, 
living  in  a  fashionable  part  of  London,  who,  like 
many  other  people,  deals  rather  easily  with  his 
son's  schooling.  Sometimes  the  boy  is  at  school, 
then  for  months  together  he  is  away  from  school, 
and  left  to  run  idle  at  home.  He  is  not  in  the  least 
an  invalid,  but  it  pleases  his  father  and  mother  to 


154         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

bring  him  up  in  this  manner.  Now  I  imagine  no 
English  friends  of  compulsory  education  dream  of 
dealing  with  such  a  defaulter  as  this  ;  and  certainly 
his  father,  who  perhaps  is  himself  a  friend  of  com- 
pulsory education  for  the  working  classes,  would  be 
astounded  to  find  his  education  of  his  own  son  inter- 
fered with.  But  if  my  worthy  acquaintance  lived 
in  Switzerland  or  Germany,  he  would  be  dealt  with 
as  follows.  I  speak  with  the  school-law  of  Canton 
Neufchatel  immediately  under  my  eyes,  but  the 
regulations  on  this  matter  are  substantially  the  same 
in  all  the  states  of  Germany  and  of  German  Switzer- 
land. The  Municipal  Education  Committee  of  the 
district  where  my  acquaintance  lived  would  address 
a  summons  to  him,  informing  him  that  a  comparison 
of  the  school-rolls  of  their  district  with  the  municipal 
list  of  children  of  school-age  showed  his  son  not  to 
be  at  school ;  and  requiring  him,  in  consequence, 
to  appear  before  the  Municipal  Committee  at  a 
place  and  time  named,  and  there  to  satisfy  them 
either  that  his  son  did  attend  some  public  school, 
or  that,  if  privately  taught,  he  was  taught  by  duly 
trained  and  certificated  teachers.  On  the  back  of 
the  summons  my  acquaintance  would  find  printed 
the  penal  articles  of  the  school-law  sentencing  him 
to  a  fine  if  he  failed  to  satisfy  the  Municipal  Com- 
mittee ;  and,  if  he  failed  to  pay  the  fine,  or  was 
found  a  second  time  offending,  to  imprisonment. 
In  some  Continental  States  he  would  be  liable,  in 
case  of  repeated  infraction  of  the  school-law,  to  be 
deprived  of  his  parental  rights,  and  to  have  the  care 
of  his  son  transferred  to  guardians  named  by  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         155 

State.  It  is  indeed  terrible  to  think  of  the  consterna- 
tion and  wrath  of  our  educated  and  intelligent 
classes  under  a  discipline  like  this ;  and  I  should 
not  like  to  be  the  man  to  try  and  impose  it  on  them. 
But  I  assure  them  most  emphatically — and  if  they 
study  the  experience  of  the  Continent  they  will 
convince  themselves  of  the  truth  of  what  I  say — 
that  only  on  these  conditions  of  its  equal  and  universal 
application  is  any  final  law  of  compulsory  education 
possible. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  x-xii. 

Higher  Education 

SECONDARY  and  higher  education  is  not,  like  popular 
education,  a  subject  which  very  keenly  interests  at 
present  our  educated  and  intelligent  classes.  It  is 
their  own  education  ;  and  with  their  own  education 
they  are,  it  seems,  tolerably  well  satisfied.  Yet  I 
hope  that  here  again  these  classes — above  all,  I 
hope  that  the  great  middle  class,  which  has  much 
the  widest  and  the  gravest  interests  concerned  in 
the  matter, — will  not  refuse  their  attention  to  the 
experience  afforded  by  the  Continent.  Before  con- 
cluding that  they  can  have  nothing  to  learn  from 
it,  let  them  at  any  rate  know  and  weigh  it. 

To  three  points  particularly  let  me  invite  their 
consideration.  In  the  first  place,  let  them  consider 
in  its  length  and  breadth  the  fact  that  on  the 
Continent  the  middle  class  in  general  may  be  said 
to  be  brought  up  on  the  first  plane,  while  in  England 
it  is  brought  up  on  the  second  plane.  In  the  public 


156          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

higher  schools  of  Prussia  or  France  some  65,000  of 
the  youth  of  the  middle  and  upper  classes  are 
brought  up  ;  in  the  public  higher  schools  of  England 
— even  when  we  reckon  as  such  many  institutions 
which  would  not  be  entitled  to  such  a  rank  on  the 
Continent — only  some  15,000.  Has  this  state  of 
things  no  bad  effect  upon  us  ? 

The  second  point  is  this.  The  study  of  Conti- 
nental education  will  show  our  educated  and  in- 
telligent classes  that  many  things  which  they  wish 
for  cannot  be  done  as  isolated  operations,  but  must, 
if  they  are  to  be  done  at  all,  come  in  as  parts  of  a 
regularly  designed  whole. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  xv. 

Technical  Schools 

OUR  educated  and  intelligent  classes,  in  their 
solicitude  for  our  backward  working  class,  and  their 
alarm  for  our  industrial  pre-eminence,  are  beginning 
to  cry  out  for  technical  schools  for  our  artizans. 
Well-informed  and  distinguished  people  seem  to 
think  it  is  only  necessary  to  have  special  schools 
of  arts  and  trades,  as  they  have  abroad,  and  then  we 
may  take  a  clever  boy  from  our  elementary  schools, 
perfected  by  the  Revised  Code,  and  put  him  at  once 
into  a  special  school.  A  study  of  the  best  Conti- 
nental experience  will  show  them  that  the  special 
school  is  the  crown  of  a  long  co-ordered  series, 
designed  and  graduated  by  the  best  heads  in  the 
country.  A  clever  boy  in  a  Prussian  elementary 
school,  passes  first  into  a  Mittelschule,  or  higher 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         157 

elementary  school,  then  into  a  modern  or  real  school 
of  the  second  class,  then  into  a  real  school  of  the  first 
class,  and  finally,  after  all  these,  into  the  special 
school.  A  boy  who  has  had  this  preparation  is 
able  to  profit  by  a  special  school.  To  send  him 
there  straight  from  the  elementary  school,  is  like 
sending  a  boy  from  the  fourth  form  at  one  of  our 
classical  public  schools  to  hear  Professor  Ritschl 
lecture  on  Latin  inscriptions. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  xviii. 


Council  of  Education 

I  COME,  lastly,  to  the  third  point  for  our  remark  in 
Continental  education.  These  foreign  Governments 
which  we  think  offensively  arbitrary,  do  at  least 
take,  when  they  administer  education,  the  best 
educational  opinion  of  the  country  into  their  counsels, 
and  we  do  not.  This  comes  partly  from  our  dis- 
belief in  government,  partly  from  our  belief  in 
machinery.  Our  disbelief  in  government  makes  us 
slow  to  organise  government  perfectly  for  any 
matter.  Our  belief  in  machinery  makes  us  think 
that  when  we  have  organised  a  department,  however 
imperfectly,  it  must  prove  efficacious  and  self- 
acting.  The  result  is  that  while,  on  the  Continent, 
through  Boards  and  Councils,  the  best  educational 
opinion  of  the  country — by  which  I  mean  the 
opinion  of  men  like  Sir  James  Shuttleworth,  Mr. 
Mill,  Dr.  Temple,  men  who  have  established  their 
right  to  be  at  least  heard  on  these  topics — necessarily 
reaches  the  Government  and  influences  its  actions, 


158          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

in  this  country  there  are  no  organised  means  of 
its  ever  reaching  our  Government  at  all.  The  most 
important  questions  of  educational  policy  may  be 
settled  without  such  men  being  even  heard.  A 
number  of  grave  matters  affecting  public  instruction 
in  this  country — our  system  of  competitive  examina- 
tions, our  regulation  of  studies,  our  whole  school- 
legislation,  are  at  the  present  moment  settled  one 
hardly  knows  how,  certainly  without  any  care  for 
the  best  counsel  attainable  being  first  taken  on  them. 
On  the  Continent  it  is  not  so  ;  and  the  more  our 
Government  is  likely,  in  England,  to  have  to  intervene 
in  educational  matters,  the  more  does  the  Continental 
practice,  in  this  particular,  invite  and  require  our 
attention. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  xix. 


Obstacles  to  Profiting  by  Continental 
Experience 

IN  conclusion.  There  are  two  chief  obstacles,  as 
it  seems  to  me,  which  oppose  themselves  to  our 
consulting  foreign  opinion  with  profit.  One  is, 
our  notion  of  the  State  as  an  alien  intrusive  power 
in  the  community,  not  summing  up  and  representing 
the  action  of  individuals,  but  thwarting  it.  This 
notion  is  not  so  strong  as  it  once  was,  but  still  it  is 
strong  enough  to  make  it  opportune  to  quote  some 
words  from  a  foreign  Report  before  me,  which  sets 
this  much  obscured  point  in  its  true  light :  "  Le 
Gouvernement  ne  repr/sente  pas  un  interet  particulier 
distinct,  puisqu'il  est  au  contraire  la  plus  haute  et 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         159 


la  plus  sincere  expression  de  tous  les  intevets 
du  pays." 

This  is  undoubtedly  what  a  Government  ought  to 
be  ;  and,  if  it  is  not  this,  it  is  the  duty  of  its  citizens 
to  try  and  make  it  this,  not  to  try  and  get  rid  of  so 
powerful  and  essential  an  agency  as  much  as  possible. 

The  other  obstacle  is  our  high  opinion  of  our  own 
energy  and  prosperity.  This  opinion  is  just  ;  but 
it  is  possible  to  rely  on  it  too  long,  and  to  strain  our 
energy  and  our  prosperity  too  hard.  At  any  rate 
our  energy  and  our  prosperity  will  be  more  fruitful 
and  safer,  the  more  we  add  intelligence  to  them. 
Here,  if  anywhere,  is  an  occasion  for  applying  the 
words  of  the  wise  man  :  "If  the  iron  be  blunt,  and 
a  man  do  not  whet  the  edge,  then  must  he  put  forth 
more  strength  ;  but  wisdom  is  profitable  to  direct." 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  xx-xxi. 

The  Initial  Defect  in  English  Schools 

PERHAPS  one  reason  why  in  England  our  schools 
have  not  had  the  life  and  growth  of  the  schools  of 
Germany  and  Holland  is  to  be  found  in  the  separation 
with  us,  of  the  power  of  the  Reformation  and  the 
power  of  the  Renascence.  With  us,  too,  the 
Reformation  triumphed  and  got  possession  of  our 
schools  ;  but  our  leading  reformers  were  not  at  the 
same  time,  like  those  of  Germany,  the  nation's 
leading  spirits  in  intellect  and  culture.  In  Germany 
the  best  spirits  of  the  nation  were  then  the  reformers. 
In  England  our  best  spirits  —  Shakspeare,  Bacon, 
Spenser  —  were  men  of  the  Renascence,  not  men  of 


160          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

the  Reformation,  and  our  reformers  were  men  of  the 
second  order.  The  Reformation,  therefore,  getting 
hold  of  the  schools  in  England  was  a  very  different 
force,  a  force  far  inferior  in  light,  resources,  and 
prospects,  to  the  Reformation  getting  hold  of  the 
schools  in  Germany. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  2. 


Reform  of  Classical  Studies 

To  reform  the  old  methods  of  teaching  the  classics, 
to  reduce  their  preponderance,  to  make  school 
studies  bear  more  directly  upon  the  wants  of  practical 
life,  and  to  aim  at  imparting  what  is  called  "  useful 
knowledge,"  were  projects  not  unknown  to  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  century  as  well  as  to  ours. 
Comenius,  a  Moravian  by  birth,  who  in  1641  was 
invited  to  England  in  order  to  remodel  the  schools 
here,  and  in  the  following  century  Rousseau  in 
France,  and  Basedow  in  Germany,  promulgated, 
with  various  degrees  of  notoriety  and  success, 
various  schemes  with  one  or  other  of  these  objects. 
The  Philanthropinum  of  Dessau,  an  institution 
established  in  pursuance  of  them,  was  an  experiment 
which  made  much  noise  in  its  day.  It  was  broken 
up  about  1780,  but  its  impulse  and  the  ideas  which 
set  this  impulse  in  motion,  continued,  and  bear  fruit 
in  the  Realschulen.  The  name  Realschule  was  first 
used  at  Halle  ;  a  school  with  that  title  was  established 
there  by  Christoph  Semler,  in  1738. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  13. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         161 

Prussian  School  Law 

THERE  is  no  organic  school-law  in  Prussia  like  the 
organic  school-law  of  France,  though  sketches  and 
projects  of  such  a  law  have  more  than  once  been 
prepared.  But  at  present  the  public  control  of  the 
higher  schools  is  exercised  through  administrative 
orders  and  instructions,  like  the  minutes  of  our 
Committee  of  Council  on  Education.  But  the 
administrative  authority  has  in  Prussia  a  very 
different  basis  for  its  operations  from  that  which  it 
has  in  England,  and  a  much  firmer  one.  It  has  for 
its  basis  these  articles  of  the  Allgemeine  Landrecht, 
or  common  law  of  Prussia,  which  was  drawn  up  in 
writing  in  Frederick  the  Great's  reign,  and  pro- 
mulgated in  1794,  in  the  reign  of  his  successor  : — 

"  Schools  and  universities  are  State  institutions, 
having  for  their  object  the  instruction  of  youth  in 
useful  information  and  scientific  knowledge. 

"  Such  establishments  are  to  be  instituted  only 
with  the  State's  previous  knowledge  and  consent. 

"  All  public  schools  and  public  establishments 
of  education  are  under  the  State's  supervision,  and 
must  at  all  times  submit  themselves  to  its  exami- 
nations and  inspections. 

"  Whenever  the  appointment  of  teachers  is  not 
by  virtue  of  the  foundation  or  of  a  special  privilege 
vested  in  certain  persons  or  corporations,  it  belongs 
to  the  State. 

"  Even  where  the  immediate  supervision  of  such 
schools  and  the  appointment  of  their  teachers  is 
committed  to  certain  private  persons  or  corporations, 


1 62         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

new  teachers  cannot  be  appointed,  and  important 
changes  in  the  constitution  and  teaching  of  the  school 
cannot  be  adopted,  without  the  previous  knowledge 
or  consent  of  the  provincial  school  authorities. 

"  The  teachers  in  the  gymnasiums  and  other 
higher  schools  have  the  character  of  State  function- 
aries." 

To  the  same  effect  the  Prussian  Deed  of  Con- 
stitution (Verfassungs-Urkunde)  of  1850  has  the 
following : — 

"  For  the  education  of  the  young  sufficient 
provision  is  to  be  made  by  means  of  public  schools." 

"  Every  one  is  free  to  impart  instruction,  and  to 
found  and  to  conduct  establishments  for  instruction, 
when  he  has  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  proper 
State  authorities  that  he  has  the  moral,  scientific, 
and  technical  qualifications  requisite. 

"  All  public  and  private  establishments  are  under 
the  supervision  of  authorities  named  by  the  State." 

With  these  principles  to  serve  as  a  basis,  adminis- 
trative control  can  be  exercised  without  much 
difficulty.  These  principles,  however,  may  with 
real  truth  be  said  to  form  part  of  the  common  law  of 
Prussia,  for  they  form  part  of  almost  every  Prussian 
citizen's  notions  of  what  is  right  and  fitting  in  school 
concerns.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
the  State  in  Prussia  shows  a  grasping  and  centralising 
spirit  in  dealing  with  education  ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  makes  the  administration  of  it  as  local  as  it 
possibly  can ;  but  it  takes  care  that  education  shall 
not  be  left  to  the  chapter  of  accidents. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  20-22. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION          163 

Prussian  Leaving  Examinations 

A  PUBLIC  school  boy,  who,  to  evade  the  rule  requiring 
two  years  in  prima,  leaves  the  gymnasium  in 
secunda,  goes  to  a  private  school  or  private  tutor, 
and  offers  himself  for  examination  within  two 
years,  needs  a  special  permission  from  the  minister 
in  order  to  be  examined.  So  well  do  the  Prussian 
authorities  know  how  insufficient  an  instrument 
for  their  object — that  of  promoting  the  national 
culture  and  filling  the  professions  with  fit  men — 
is  the  bare  examination  test ;  so  averse  are  they 
to  cram  ;  so  clearly  do  they  perceive  that  what 
forms  a  youth,  and  what  he  should  in  all  ways  be 
induced  to  acquire,  is  the  orderly  development  of  his 
faculties  under  good  and  trained  teaching. 

With  this  view,  all  the  instructions  for  the 
examinations  are  drawn  up.  It  is  to  tempt  candi- 
dates to  no  special  preparation  and  effort,  but  to  be 
such  as  "  a  scholar  of  fair  ability  and  proper  diligence 
may  at  the  end  of  his  school  course  come  to  with  a 
quiet  mind,  and  without  a  painful  preparatory  effort 
tending  to  relaxation  and  torpor  as  soon  as  the 
effort  is  over."  The  total  cultivation  (Gesammtbil- 
dung)  of  the  candidate  is  the  great  matter,  and  this 
is  why  the  two  years  of  prima  are  prescribed  : 
"  that  the  instruction  in  this  highest  class  may  not 
degenerate  into  a  preparation  for  the  examination, 
that  the  pupil  may  have  the  requisite  time  to  come 
steadily  and  without  overhurrying  to  the  fulness  of 
the  measure  of  his  powers  and  character,  that  he  may 
be  securely  and  thoroughly  formed,  instead  of  being 


164          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

bewildered  and  oppressed  by  a  mass  of  information 
hastily  heaped  together."  All  tumultuarische 
Vorbereitung  and  all  stimulation  of  vanity  and 
emulation  is  to  be  discouraged,  and  the  examination, 
like  the  school,  is  to  regard  das  Wesentliche  und 
Dauernde — the  substantial  and  enduring.  Accord- 
ingly, the  composition  and  the  passages  for  transla- 
tion are  great  matters  in  German  examinations, 
not  those  papers  of  questions  by  which  the  examiner 
is  so  led  to  show  his  want  of  sense,  and  the  examinee 
his  stores  of  cram. 

That  a  boy  shall  have  been  for  a  certain  number 
of  years  under  good  training  is  what,  in  Prussia, 
the  State  wants  to  secure  ;  and  it  uses  the  examina- 
tion test  to  help  it  to  secure  this.  We  leave  his 
training  to  take  its  chance,  and  we  put  the  examina- 
tion test  to  a  use  for  which  it  is  quite  inadequate 
to  try  and  make  up  for  our  neglect. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  54-56. 

Pedagogic 

THE  Germans,  as  is  well  known,  attach  much  im- 
portance to  the  science  of  pedagogic.  That  science 
is  as  yet  far  from  being  matured,  and  much  nonsense 
is  talked  on  the  subject  of  it ;  still,  the  total  un- 
acquaintance  with  it,  and  with  all  which  has  been 
written  about  it,  in  which  the  intending  school- 
master is,  in  England,  suffered  to  remain,  has,  I  am 
convinced,  injurious  effects  both  on  our  school- 
masters and  on  our  schools. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  67. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         165 

Teachers  of  Modern  Languages 

A  SPECIAL  facultas  docendi  is  given  to  the  foreign 
teacher  of  modern  languages ;  but  even  he,  besides 
the  modern  language  he  is  to  teach,  must  know  as 
much  Latin,  history,  geography,  and  philosophy  as  is 
required  of  candidates  who  are  to  teach  in  the 
middle  division  of  a  gymnasium.  This  provision 
guards  against  the  employment  of  subjects  so  unfit 
by  their  training  and  general  attainments  to  rule  a 
class,  as  those  we  too  often  see  chosen  as  teachers  of 
modern  languages. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  68-69. 

The  Art  of  Teaching 

WOLF'S  great  rule  in  all  these  lessons  was  that  rule 
which  all  masters  in  the  art  of  teaching  have  followed 
— to  take  as  little  part  as  possible  in  the  lesson 
himself  ;  merely  to  start  it,  guide  it,  and  sum  it  up, 
and  to  let  quite  the  main  part  in  it  be  borne  by  the 
learners. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  73. 

Need  of  an  Education  Minister 

I  CANNOT  but  think  an  education  Minister  a  necessity 
for  modern  States,  yet  I  know  that  in  the  employment 
of  such  an  agency  there  are  inconveniences,  and  I 
do  not  wish  to  hide  any  of  them  from  the  English 
reader.  I  have  said  that  in  France  political  con- 
siderations are  in  my  opinion  too  much  suffered  to 


166          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

influence  the  whole  working  of  the  system  of  public 
education.  In  Prussia  the  minister  is  armed  with 
powers,  and  issues  instructions  showing  how  he 
interprets  those  powers,  which  in  England  would 
excite  very  great  jealousy.  He  tells  the  provincial 
authorities  that  no  reproach  must  attach  to  the 
private  and  public  life,  any  more  than  to  the  know- 
ledge or  ability,  of  a  candidate  for  school  employ- 
ment ;  he  tells  them  that  they  are  to  take  into 
consideration  the  whole  previous  career,  extra 
professional  as  well  as  professional  (das  gesammte 
bisherige  und  ausseramtliche  Verhalten],  of  such  a 
candidate  ;  and  that  schoolmasters  should  be  men 
who  will  train  up  their  scholars  in  notions  of  obedience 
towards  the  sovereign  and  the  State. 

It  is  not,  indeed,  at  all  likely  that  in  England, 
with  the  forces  watching  and  controlling  him  here, 
a  minister  would  use  language  such  as  I  have 
quoted  ;  and  even  if  it  were,  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that 
to  have  a  minister  using  such  language,  though  it  is 
language  which  I  cordially  dislike,  is  in  itself  so  much 
more  lamentable  and  baneful  a  thing  than  that 
anarchy  and  ignorance  in  education  matters  under 
which  we  contentedly  suffer.  However,  what  I  wish 
now  to  say  is,  that  in  spite  of  this  language,  the 
political  influence  which  has  such  real  effect  upon 
the  public  education  of  France,  has  no  effect,  or 
next  to  none,  upon  that  of  Prussia.  I  do  not 
believe  that  it  has  more  on  that  of  Prussia  than  it 
has  on  that  of  this  country.  I  took  great  pains  to 
inform  myself  on  this  head. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  82-83. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         167 

Prussian  Belief  in  Culture 

THE  truth  is,  that  when  a  nation  has  got  the  belief 
in  culture  which  the  Prussian  nation  has  got,  and 
when  its  schools  are  worthy  of  this  belief,  it  will  not 
suffer  them  to  be  sacrificed  to  any  other  interest  ; 
and  however  greatly  political  considerations  may 
be  paramount  in  other  departments  of  administration 
in  this  they  are  not. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  85. 

Religious  Instruction  in  Prussian  Schools 

I  HAVE  spoken  several  times  of  the  religious  instruc- 
tion as  forming  part  of  school  work  and  of  examina- 
tions. The  two  legally-established  forms  of  religion 
in  Prussia  are  the  Protestant  (evangelisch]  and  the 
Catholic.  All  public  schools  must  be  either  Protes- 
tant, Catholic,  or  mixed  (Simultananstalteri) .  But 
the  constitution  of  a  mixed  school  has  not  been 
authoritatively  denned,  and  though  the  practice 
has  grown  up,  especially  in  Realschulen,  of  appoint- 
ing teachers  of  the  two  confessions  indifferently, 
yet  these  Simultananstalten  retain  the  character  of 
Christian  schools,  and  indeed  usually  follow  the  rule 
either  that  the  director  and  the  majority  of  the 
masters  shall  be  Catholic  or  that  they  shall  be 
Protestant.  In  general,  the  deed  of  foundation  or 
established  custom  determines  to  what  confession 
a  school  shall  belong.  The  religious  instruction 
and  the  services  follow  the  confession  of  the  school. 
The  ecclesiastical  authorities — the  consistories  for 
Protestant  schools,  the  bishops  for  Catholic  schools — 


i68          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

must  concur  with  the  school  authorities  in  the 
appointment  of  those  who  give  the  religious  instruc- 
tion in  the  schools.  The  consistories  and  the  bishops 
have  likewise  the  right  of  inspecting,  by  themselves  or 
by  their  delegates,  this  instruction,  and  of  addressing 
to  the  Provincial  Boards  any  remarks  they  may  have 
to  make  on  it.  The  ordinarius,  or  class-master,  who 
has  general  charge  of  the  class,  as  distinguished  from 
the  teachers  who  give  the  different  parts  of  the 
instruction  in  it,  is  generally,  if  possible,  the  religious 
instructor.  In  Protestant  schools  the  religious 
instructor  is  usually  a  layman ;  in  Catholic,  an 
ecclesiastic.  The  public  schools  are  open  to  scholars 
of  all  creeds  ;  in  general,  one  of  the  two  confessions, 
evangelical  or  Catholic,  greatly  preponderates,  and 
the  Catholics,  in  especial,  prefer  schools  of  their  own 
confession.  But  the  State  holds  the  balance  quite 
fairly  between  them ;  where  the  scholars  of  that 
confession  which  is  not  the  established  confession 
of  the  school  are  in  considerable  numbers,  a  special 
religious  instructor  is  paid  out  of  the  school  funds  to 
come  and  give  them  this  religious  instruction  at  the 
school.  Thus,  in  the  gymnasium  at  Bonn,  which  is 
Catholic,  I  heard  a  lesson  on  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians  (in  the  Greek]  given  to  the  Protestant  boys 
by  a  young  Protestant  minister  of  the  town,  engaged 
by  the  gymnasium  for  that  purpose.  When  the 
scholars  whose  confession  is  in  the  minority  are  very 
few  in  number,  their  parents  have  to  provide  by 
private  arrangements  of  their  own  for  their  children's 
religious  instruction. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  85-87. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         169 

Salaries  of  Prussian  Schoolmasters 

THE  whole  scale  of  incomes  in  Prussia  is,  however, 
much  lower  than  with  us,  and  the  habits  of  the  nation 
are  frugal  and  simple.  The  rate  of  schoolmasters' 
salaries  was  raised  after  1815,  and  has  been  raised 
again  since  ;  it  is  not  exceptionally  low  as  compared 
with  the  rates  of  incomes  in  Germany  generally. 
The  rector  of  Schulpforta  with  his  £300  a  year  and 
a  house,  has  in  all  the  country  round  him — where 
there  is  great  well-doing  and  comfort — few  people 
more  comfortably  off  than  himself ;  he  can  do  all 
he  wants  to  do,  and  all  that  anybody  about  him  does, 
and  this  is  wealth.  The  schoolmasters  of  the  higher 
school  enjoy,  too,  great  consideration  ;  and  con- 
sideration in  a  country  not  corrupted  has  a  value  as 
well  as  money. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  96. 

The  Ancient  Authors  as  Literature 

THE  great  superiority  of  the  Germans,  and  where 
they  show  how  much  further  they  have  gone  in 
Alterthumswissenschaft  than  we  have,  is  in  their 
far  broader  notion  of  treating,  even  in  their  schools, 
the  ancient  authors  as  literature,  and  conceiving 
the  place  and  significance  of  an  author  in  his  country's 
literature,  and  in  that  of  the  world.  In  this  way 
the  student's  interest  in  Greek  and  Latin  becomes 
much  more  vital,  and  the  hold  of  these  languages 
upon  him  is  much  more  likely  to  be  permanent. 
This  is  to  be  set  against  the  superior  finish  and 


170         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

elegance  of  the  best  of  our  boys  in  Latin  and  Greek 
composition  ;  above  all,  in  Latin  and  Greek  verse. 
Greek  verse,  indeed,  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be  a 
school  exercise  at  all,  so  far  as  I  could  see  or  hear, 
in  the  foreign  schools. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  109-110. 

Wise  Choice  of  Text-Books 

I  MUST  in  passing  observe  how  greatly  some  intelligent 
censorship  like  that  of  the  Provincial  Boards  and 
the  Minister  in  Prussia,  or  that  of  the  Council  of 
Public  Instruction  in  France,  is  needed  for  school- 
books  in  England.  Many  as  are  the  absurdities 
of  our  state  of  school  anarchy,  perhaps  none  of  them 
is  more  crying  than  the  book-pest  which  prevails 
under  it.  Every  school  chooses  at  its  own  discre- 
tion ;  many  schools  make  a  trade  of  book-dealing, 
and  therefore  it  is  for  their  interest  to  have  books 
which  are  not  used  elsewhere,  and  which  the  pupil 
will  not  bring  with  him  from  his  last  school ;  so  that 
a  boy  who  has  been  at  three  or  four  English  schools 
has  often  had  to  buy  a  complete  new  set  of  school- 
books  for  each.  The  extravagance  of  this  is  bad 
enough ;  but  then,  besides,  as  there  exists  no 
intelligent  control  or  selection  of  them,  half  at  least 
of  our  school-books  are  rubbish,  and  to  the  other 
defects  of  our  school  system  we  may  add  this,  that 
in  no  other  secondary  schools  in  Europe  do  the 
pupils  spend  so  much  of  their  time  in  learning  such 
utter  nonsense  as  they  do  in  ours. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  112-113. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION          171 

Games  at  German  Schools 

AT  Schulpforta  they  are  very  proud  of  their  playing- 
field,  which  is  indeed,  with  a  wooded  hill  arising 
behind  it,  a  pleasant  place ;  but  the  games  of 
English  playing-fields  do  not  go  on  there ;  instead 
of  goals  or  a  cricket-ground,  one  sees  apparatus  for 
gymnastics.  The  Germans,  as  is  well  known,  now 
cultivate  gymnastics  in  their  schools  with  great 
care.  Since  1842,  gymnastics  have  been  made  a 
regular  part  of  the  public-school  course ;  there  is  a 
Central  Turnanstalt  at  Berlin,  with  eighteen  civilian 
pupils  who  are  being  trained  expressly  to  supply 
model  teachers  of  gymnastics  for  the  public  schools. 
The  teachers  profess  to  have  adapted  their  exercises 
with  precision  to  every  age,  and  to  all  the  stages  of  a 
boy's  growth  and  muscular  development.  The 
French  are  much  impressed  by  what  seems  to  them 
the  success  of  the  Germans  in  this  kind  of  instruction, 
and  certainly  in  their  own  lycces  they  have  not  at 
present  done  nearly  so  much  for  it.  Nothing, 
however,  will  make  an  ex-schoolboy  of  one  of  the 
great  English  schools  regard  the  gymnastics  of  a 
foreign  school  without  a  slight  feeling  of  wonder 
and  compassion,  so  much  more  animating  and 
interesting  do  the  games  of  his  remembrance  seem 
to  him.  This  much,  however,  I  will  say ;  if  boys 
have  long  work  hours,  or  if  they  work  hard,  gym- 
nastics probably  do  more  for  their  physical  health  in 
the  comparatively  short  time  allotted  to  recreation 
than  anything  else  could.  In  England  the  majority 
of  public  schoolboys  work  far  less  than  the  foreign 


172          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

schoolboy,  and  for  this  majority  the  English  games 
are  delightful ;  but  for  the  few  hard  students  with 
us  there  is  in  general  but  the  constitutional,  and  this 
is  not  so  good  as  the  foreign  gymnastics.  For  little 
boys,  again,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  the  carefully 
taught  gymnastics  of  the  foreign  school  are  better 
than  the  lounging  shiveringly  about,  which  in  my 
time  used  often  at  our  great  schools  to  be  the  portion 
of  those  who  had  not  yet  come  to  full  age  for  games. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  124-125. 

Value  of  Classical  Training 

DR.  JAGER,  the  director  of  the  united  school — well- 
placed,  therefore,  for  judging,  and  as  I  have  said, 
an  able  man — assured  me  it  was  the  universal 
conviction  with  those  competent  to  form  an  opinion 
that  the  Realschulen  were  not,  at  present,  successful 
institutions.  He  declared  that  the  boys  in  the 
corresponding  forms  of  the  classical  school  beat  the 
Realschule  boys  in  matters  which  both  do  alike, 
such  as  history,  geography,  the  mother-tongue,  and 
even  French,  though  to  French  the  Realschule  boys 
devote  so  far  more  time  than  their  comrades  of  the 
classical  school.  The  reason  for  this,  Dr.  Jager 
affirms,  is  that  the  classical  training  strengthens  a 
boy's  mind  so  much. 

This  is  what,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  chief 
school  authorities  everywhere  in  France  and  Germany 
testify  :  I  quote  Dr.  Jager's  testimony  in  particular, 
because  of  his  ability  and  because  of  his  double 
experience.  In  Switzerland  you  do  not  hear  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         173 

same  story,  but  the  regnant  Swiss  conception  of 
secondary  instruction  is,  in  general,  not  a  liberal 
but  a  commercial  one  ;  not  culture  and  training  of 
the  mind,  but  what  will  be  of  immediate  palpable 
utility  in  some  practical  calling,  is  there  the  chief 
matter ;  and  this  cannot  be  admitted  as  the  true 
scope  of  secondary  instruction. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  131-132. 

The  Privatdocent 

OTHER  countries  have  full  professors  and  pro- 
fessors extraordinary.  France,  for  instance,  has 
her  professeurs  titulaires,  and  her  professeurs 
suppleants ;  but  the  Privatdocent  is  peculiar  to 
Germany,  and  is  the  great  source  of  vigour  and 
renovation  to  her  superior  instruction.  Sometimes 
he  gives  private  lessons,  like  the  private  tutors  of 
our  universities  ;  these  lessons  have  the  title  of 
Privatissima.  But  this  is  not  his  main  business. 
His  main  business  is  as  unlike  the  sterile  business 
of  our  private  tutors  as  possible.  The  Privatdocent 
is  an  assistant  to  the  professorate  ;  he  is  free  to  use, 
when  the  professors  do  not  occupy  them,  the 
university  lecture-rooms,  he  gives  lectures  like  the 
professors,  and  his  lectures  count  as  professors' 
lectures  for  those  who  attend  them.  His  appoint- 
ment is  on  this  wise.  A  distinguished  student 
applies  to  be  made  Privatdocent  in  a  faculty.  He 
produces  certain  certificates  and  performs  certain 
exercises  before  two  delegates  named  by  the  faculty, 
and  this  is  called  his  Habilitation,  If  he  passes, 


174         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

the  faculty  names  him  Privatdocent.    The  authorisa- 
tion of  the  minister  is  also  requisite  for  him,  but 
this  follows  his  nomination  by  the  faculty  as  a  matter 
of  course.     He  is  then  free  to  lecture  on  any  matters 
proper  to  his  faculty.     He  is  on  his  probation,  he 
receives  no  salary  whatever ;   and  depends  entirely 
on  his  lectures  ;   he  has,  therefore,  every  motive  to 
exert   himself.     In   general,    as   I   have   said,    the 
professors  and  Privatdocenten  arrange  together  to 
parcel  out  the  field  of  instruction  between  them, 
and  one  supplements  the  other's  teaching  ;    still  a 
Privatdocent  may,  if  he  likes,  lecture  on  just  the  same 
subject  that  a  professor  is  lecturing  on  ;    there  is 
absolute  liberty  in  this  respect.     The  one  precaution 
taken  against  undue  competition  is,  that  a  Privat- 
docent lecturing  on  a  professor's  subject  is  not  allowed 
to  charge  lower  fees  than  a  professor.    It  does  honour 
to  the  disinterested  spirit  in  which  science  is  pursued 
in  Germany,  that  with  these  temptations  to  competi- 
tion the  relations  between  the  professors  and  the 
Privatdocenten  are  in  general   excellent ;    the  dis- 
tinguished professor  encourages  the  rising  Privat- 
docent,   and   the   Privatdocent   seeks   to   make   his 
teaching  serve  science,  not  his  own  vanity.     But  it 
is  evident  how  the  neighbourhood  of  a  rising  young 
Privatdocent  must  tend  to  keep  a  professor  up  to  the 
mark,  and  hinder  him  from  getting  sleepy  and  lazy. 
If  he  gets  sleepy  and  lazy,   his  lecture-room   is 
deserted.    The  Privatdocent,  again,  has  the  standard 
of  eminent  men  before  his  eyes,  and  everything 
stimulates  him  to  come  up  to  it. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  142-14  j. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         175 

Brodstudien  and  Examinations 

THERE  are,  of  course,  many  idlers ;  the  proportion 
of  students  in  a  German  university  who  really  work 
I    have    heard  estimated  at  one-third ;    certainly 
it  is  larger  than  in  the  English  universities.     But 
the  pressure  put  upon  them  in  the  way  of  com- 
pulsion and  university  examinations  is  much  less 
than  with  us.    The  paramount  university  aim  in 
Germany  is  to  encourage  a  love  of  study  and  science 
for  their  own  sakes  ;  and  the  professors,  very  unlike 
our   college   tutors,   are   constantly  warning   their 
pupils  against  Brodstudien,  studies  pursued  with  a 
view  to  examinations  and  posts.     The  examinations 
within  the  university  course  itself  are  far  fewer  and 
less  important  in  Germany  than  in  England.     It  is 
Austria,  a  country  which  believes  in  the  things  of 
the  mind  as  little  as  we  do,  which  is  the  great  country 
for  university  examinations.     There  they  are  applied 
with  a  mechanical  faith  much  like  ours,  and  come  as 
often  as  once  a  month  ;  but  the  general  intellectual 
life  of    the  Austrian  universities  is  lower,  though 
Vienna  and  Prague  are  good  medical  schools,  than 
that  of  any  other  universities  of  Germany.     "  Le 
pays  a  1'examens,  1'Autriche,"  exclaims  an  eminent 
French  professor,  M.  Laboulaye,  who  has  carefully 
studied  the  German  university  system  with  a  view 
to  reforming  that  of  France — "  Le  pays  a  1'examens, 
1'Autriche,  est  precisement  celui  dans  lequel  on  ne 
travaille  pas  ;  "  and  every  competent  authority  in 
Germany   will   confirm   what   M.    Laboulaye   says. 
I  do  not  say  that  in  countries  like  Austria  and 


176         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

England,  where  there  is  so  little  real  love  for  the 
things  of  the  mind,  examinations  may  not  be  a 
protection  from  something  worse.  All  I  say  is  that 
a  love  of  the  things  of  the  mind  is  what  we  want,  and 
that  examinations  will  never  give  it. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  148-149. 


The  System  of  the  German  Universities 

Lehrfreiheit  and  Lernfreiheit,  liberty  for  the  teacher 
and  liberty  for  the  learner ;  and  Wissenschaft, 
science,  knowledge  systematically  pursued  and 
prized  in  and  for  itself,  are  the  fundamental  ideas 
of  that  system.  The  French,  with  their  ministerial 
programmes  for  superior  instruction,  and  their 
ministerial  authorisations  required  for  any  one  who 
wants  to  give  a  course  of  public  lectures — authorisa- 
tions which  are  by  no  means  a  matter  of  form — are 
naturally  most  struck  with  the  liberty  of  the  German 
universities,  and  it  is  in  liberty  that  they  have  most 
need  to  borrow  from  them.  To  us,  ministerial 
programmes  and  ministerial  authorisations  are  un- 
known ;  our  university  system  is  a  routine,  indeed, 
but  it  is  our  want  of  science,  not  our  want  of  liberty, 
which  makes  it  a  routine.  It  is  in  science  that  we 
have  most  need  to  borrow  from  the  German  universi- 
ties. The  French  university  has  no  liberty,  and 
the  English  universities  have  no  science ;  the  German 
universities  have  both. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  152. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         177 

The  Conflict  Between  Classical  and  Modern 
Studies 

SEVERAL  times  in  the  foregoing  chapters  I  have 
touched  upon  the  conflict  between  the  gymnasium 
and  the  Realschule,  between  the  partisans  of  the 
old  classical  studies  and  the  partisans  of  what  are 
called  real,  or  modern,  or  useful  studies.  This 
conflict  is  not  yet  settled,  either  by  one  side  crushing 
the  other  by  mere  violence,  or  by  one  side  clearly 
getting  the  best  of  the  other  in  the  dispute  between 
them.  We  in  England,  behindhand  as  our  public 
instruction  in  many  respects  is,  are  nevertheless  in 
time  to  profit,  and  to  make  our  schools  profit  by 
the  solution  which  will  certainly  be  found  for  this 
difference.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  both  sides 
will,  as  is  natural,  have  to  abate  their  extreme 
pretensions.  The  modern  spirit  tends  to  reach  a 
new  conception  of  the  aim  and  office  of  instruction  ; 
when  this  conception  is  fully  reached,  it  will  put  an 
end  to  conflict,  and  will  probably  show  both  the 
humanists  and  the  realists  to  have  been  right  in 
their  main  ideas. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  153. 

The  True  Aim  of  Instruction 

THE  aim  and  office  of  instruction,  say  many  people, 
is  to  make  a  man  a  good  citizen,  or  a  good  Christian, 
or  a  gentleman,  or  it  is  to  fit  him  to  get  on  in  the 
world,  or  it  is  to  enable  him  to  do  his  duty  in  that 
state  of  life  to  which  he  is  called.  It  is  none  of 
these,  and  the  modern  spirit  more  and  more  discerns 

N 


178          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

it  to  be  none  of  these.  These  are  at  best  secondary 
and  indirect  aims  of  instruction ;  its  prime  direct 
aim  is  to  enable  a  man  to  know  himself  and  the 
world.  Such  knowledge  is  the  only  sure  basis  for 
action,  and  this  basis  it  is  the  true  aim  and  office  of 
instruction  to  supply.  To  know  himself,  a  man 
must  know  the  capabilities  and  performances  of  the 
human  spirit ;  and  the  value  of  the  humanities, 
of  Alterthumswissenschaft,  the  science  of  antiquity, 
is,  that  it  affords  for  this  purpose  an  unsurpassed 
source  of  light  and  stimulus.  Whoever  seeks  help 
for  knowing  himself  from  knowing  the  capabilities 
and  performances  of  the  human  spirit  will  nowhere 
find  a  more  fruitful  object  of  study  than  in  the 
achievements  of  Greece  in  literature  and  the  arts 
during  the  two  centuries  from  the  birth  of  Simonides 
to  the  death  of  Plato.  And  these  two  centuries  are 
but  the  flowering-point  of  a  long  period,  during 
the  whole  of  which  the  ancient  world  offers,  to  the 
student  of  the  capabilities  and  performances  of  the 
human  spirit,  lessons  of  capital  importance. 

This  the  humanists  have  perceived,  and  the 
truth  of  this  perception  of  theirs  is  the  stronghold  of 
their  position.  It  is  a  vital  and  formative  know- 
ledge to  know  the  most  powerful  manifestations  of 
the  human  spirit's  activity,  for  the  knowledge  of  them 
greatly  feeds  and  quickens  our  own  activity ;  and 
they  are  very  imperfectly  known  without  knowing 
ancient  Greece  and  Rome.  But  it  is  also  a  vital 
and  formative  knowledge  to  know  the  world,  the 
laws  which  govern  nature,  and  man  as  a  part  of 
nature.  This  the  realists  have  perceived,  and  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         179 

truth  of  this  perception,  too,  is  inexpugnable. 
Every  man  is  born  with  aptitudes  which  give  him 
access  to  vital  and  formative  knowledge  by  one  of 
these  roads  ;  either  by  the  road  of  studying  man  and 
his  works,  or  by  the  road  of  studying  nature  and  her 
works.  The  business  of  instruction  is  to  seize  and 
develope  these  aptitudes.  The  great  and  complete 
spirits  which  have  all  the  aptitudes  for  both  roads 
of  knowledge  are  rare.  But  much  more  might  be 
done  on  both  roads  by  the  same  mind,  if  instruction 
clearly  grasped  the  idea  of  the  entire  system  of 
aptitudes  for  which  it  has  to  provide ;  of  their 
correlation,  and  of  their  equipollency,  so  to  speak 
as  all  leading,  if  rightly  employed,  to  vital  know- 
ledge ;  and  if  then,  having  grasped  this  idea,  it 
provided  for  them.  The  Greek  spirit,  after  its 
splendid  hour  of  creative  activity  was  gone,  gave  our 
race  another  precious  lesson,  by  exhibiting  in  the 
career  of  men  like  Aristotle  and  the  great  students 
of  Alexandria,  this  idea  of  the  correlation  and  equal 
dignity  of  the  most  different  departments  of  human 
knowledge,  and  by  showing  the  possibility  of 
uniting  them  in  a  single  mind's  education.  A  man 
like  Eratosthenes  is  memorable  by  what  he  per- 
formed, but  still  more  memorable  by  his  commanding 
range  of  studies,  and  by  the  broad  basis  of  culture 
out  of  which  his  performances  grew.  As  our  public 
instruction  gets  a  clearer  view  of  its  own  functions, 
of  the  relations  of  the  human  spirit  to  knowledge,  and 
of  the  entire  circle  of  knowledge,  it  will  certainly 
more  learn  to  awaken  in  its  pupils  an  interest  in 
that  entire  circle,  and  less  allow  them  to  remain 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Aal  strangers  to  any  part  of  it.  Still,  the  circle 
is  so  vast  and  human  faculties  are  so  limited,  that 
it  is  for  the  most  part  through  a  single  aptitude,  or 
group  of  aptitudes,  that  each  individual  will  really 
get  his  access  to  intellectual  life  and  vital  knowledge  ; 
and  it  is  by  effectually  directing  these  aptitudes  on 
definite  points  of  the  circle,  that  he  will  really  obtain 
his  comprehension  of  the  whole. 

Meanwhile,  neither  our  humanists  nor  our 
realists  adequately  conceive  the  circle  of  knowledge, 
and  each  party  is  unjust  to  all  that  to  which  its  own 
aptitudes  do  not  carry  it.  The  humanists  are  loath 
to  believe  that  a  man  has  any  access  to  vital  know- 
ledge except  by  knowing  himself — the  poetry, 
philosophy,  history,  which  his  spirit  has  created  ; 
the  realists,  that  he  has  any  access  except  by  knowing 
the  world — the  physical  sciences,  the  phenomena 
and  laws  of  nature.  I,  like  so  many  others  who 
have  been  brought  up  in  the  old  routine,  imperfectly 
as  I  know  letters — the  work  of  the  human  spirit 
itself — know  nothing  else,  andjay  judgment,  there- 
fore, may  fairly  be  impeached^EBut  it  seems  to  me 
that  so  long  as  the  realists  persist  in  cutting  in  two 
the  circle  of  knowledge,  so  long  do  they  leave  for 
practical  purposes  the  better  part  to  their  rivals, 
and  in  the  government  of  human  affairstjjeir  rivals 
will  beat  them.  And  for  this  reason. ^|^Jhe  study 
of  letters  is  the  study  of  the  operation  of  human  force, 
of  human  freedom  and  activity  ;  the  study  of  nature 
is  the  study  of  the  operation  of  non-human  forces, 
of  human  limitation  and  passivity.  The  contempla- 
tion of  human  force  and  activity  tends  naturally  to 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         181 

heighten  our  own  force  and  activity  ;  the  contempla- 
tion of  human  limits  and  passivity  tends  rather  to 
check  it.  Therefore  the  men  who  have  had  the 
humanistic  training  have  played,  and  yet  play,  so 
prominent  a  part  in  human  affairs,  in  spite  of  their 
prodigious  ignorance  of  the  universe  ;  because  their 
training  has  powerfully  fomented  the  human  force 
in  them."}  And  in  this  way  letters  are  indeed  runes, 
like  tho^e  magic  runes  taught  by  the  Valkyrie 
Brynhild  to  Sigurd,  the  Scandinavian  Achilles, 
which  put  the  crown  to  his  endowment  and  made 
him  invincible. 

Still,  the  humanists  themselves  suffer  so  much 
from  the  ignorance  of  physical  facts  and  laws,  and 
from  the  inadequate  conception  of  nature,  and  of 
man  as  a  part  of  nature — the  conduct  of  human 
affairs  suffers  so  much  from  the  same  cause — that 
the  intellectual  insufficiency  of  the  humanities, 
conceived  as  the  one  access  to  vital  knowledge, 
is  perhaps  at  the  present  moment  yet  more  striking 
than  their  power  of  practical  stimulation  ;  and  we 
may  willingly  declare  with  the  Italians  that  no  part 
of  the  circle  of  knowledge  is  common  or  unclean, 
none  is  to  be  cried  up  at  the  expense  of  another. 
To  say  that  the  fruit  of  classics,  in  the  boys  who  study 
them,  is  at  present  greater  than  the  fruit  of  the 
natural  sciences,  to  say  that  the  realists  have  not 
got  their  matters  of  instruction  so  well  adapted  to 
teaching  purposes  as  the  humanists  have  got  theirs, 
comes  really  to  no  more  than  this  :  that  the  realists 
are  but  newly  admitted  labourers  in  the  field  of 
practical  instruction,  and  that  while  the  leading 


182         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

humanists,  the  Wolfs,  and  the  Buttmanns,  have 
been  also  schoolmasters,  and  have  brought  their 
mind  and  energy  to  bear  upon  the  school-teaching 
of  their  own  studies,  the  leaders  in  the  natural 
sciences,  the  Davys  and  the  Faradays,  have  not. 
When  scientific  physics  have  as  recognised  a  place 
in  public  instruction  as  Latin  and  Greek,  they  will 
be  as  well  taught. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  154-160. 

Routine  in  our  Public  Schools 

THE  Abbe  Fleury,  than  whom  no  man  is  a  better 
authority,  says  of  the  mediaeval  universities,  the 
parents  of  our  public  secondary  schools  :  "  Les 
universites  ont  eu  le  malheur  de  commencer  dans  un 
temps  ou  le  gout  des  bonnes  etudes  etait  perdu." 
They  were  too  late  for  the  influences  of  the  great 
time  of  Christian  literature  and  eloquence,  the  first 
five  centuries  after  Christ ;  they  were  even  too  late 
for  the  influences  of  the  time  of  Abelard  and  Saint 
Bernard.  And  Fleury  adds  :  "  De  la  (from  these 
universities  founded  in  a  time  of  inferior  insight) 
nous  est  venu  ce  cours  regie  d' etudes  qui  subsiste 
encore."  He  wrote  this  in  1708,  but  it  is  in  the 
main  still  true  in  1867.  All  the  historical  part  of 
this  volume  has  shown  that  the  great  movements 
of  the  human  spirit  have  either  not  got  hold  of  the 
public  schools,  or  not  kept  hold  of  them.  What 
reforms  have  been  made  have  been  patchwork, 
the  work  of  able  men  who  into  certain  departments 
of  school  study  which  were  dear  to  them  infused 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         183 

reality  and  life,  but  who  looked  little  beyond  these 
departments,  and  did  not  concern  themselves  with 
fully  adjusting  instruction  to  the  wants  of  the  human 
mind.  There  is,  therefore,  no  intelligent  tradition 
to  be  set  aside  in  our  public  schools  ;  there  is  only  a 
routine,  arising  in  the  way  we  have  seen,  and  destined 
to  be  superseded  as  soon  as  ever  that  more  adequate 
idea  of  instruction,  of  which  the  modern  spirit  is 
even  now  in  travail,  shall  be  fully  born. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  161-162. 

Alterthumswissenschaft 

I  WAS  myself  brought  up  in  the  straitest  school 
of  Latin  and  Greek  composition,  and  am  certainly 
not  disposed  to  be  unjust  to  them.  Very  often 
they  are  ignorantly  disparaged.  Professor  Ritschl, 
I  am  told,  envies  the  English  schools  their  Latin 
verse,  and  he  is  no  bad  judge  of  what  is  useful  for 
knowing  Latin.  The  close  appropriation  of  the 
models,  which  is  necessary  for  good  Latin  or  Greek 
composition,  not  only  conduces  to  accurate  and 
verbal  scholarship ;  it  may  beget,  besides,  an 
intimate  sense  of  these  models,  which  makes  us 
sharers  of  their  spirit  and  power  ;  and  this  is  of  the 
essence  of  true  Alterthumswissenschaft.  Herein  lies 
the  reason  for  giving  boys  more  of  Latin  composition 
than  of  Greek,  superior  though  the  Greek  literature 
be  to  the  Latin  ;  but  the  power  of  the  Latin  classic 
is  in  character,  that  of  the  Greek  is  in  beauty.  Now, 
character  is  capable  of  being  taught,  learnt,  and 
assimilated  ;  beauty  hardly  ;  and  it  is  for  enabling 


184         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

us  to  learn  and  catch  some  power  of  antiquity,  that 
Greek  or  Latin  composition  is  most  to  be  valued. 
Who  shall  say  what  share  the  turning  over  and  over 
in  their  mind,  and  masticating,  so  to  speak,  in  early 
life  as  models  of  their  Latin  verse,  such  things  as 
Vergil's 

"  Disce,  puer,  virtutem  ex  me,  verumque  laborem —  " 

or  Horace's 

"  Fortuna  saevo  laeta  negotio —  " 

has  not  had  in  forming  the  high  spirit  of  the  upper 
class  in  France  and  England,  the  two  countries  where 
Latin  verse  has  most  ruled  the  schools,  and  the  two 
countries  which  most  have  had,  or  have,  a  high 
upper  class  and  a  high  upper  class  spirit  ?  All  this 
is  no  doubt  to  be  considered  when  we  are  judging 
the  worth  of  the  old  school  trainings. 

But,  in  the  first  place,  dignity  and  a  high  spirit 
is  not  all,  or  half  all,  that  is  to  be  got  out  of  Alter- 
thumswissenschaflfawha.i  else  is  to  be  got  out  of  it — 
the  love  of  the  things  of  the  mind,  the  flexibility, 
the  spiritual  moderation — is  for  our  present  time 
and  needs  still  more  precious,  and  our  upper  class 
suffers, greatly  by  not  having  got  it.  In  the  second 
placej^hough  I  do  not  deny  that  there  are  persons 
with  such  eminent  aptitudes  for  Latin  and  Greek 
composition  that  they  may  be  brought  in  contact 
with  the  spirit  and  power  of  Alterthumswissenschaft 
and  thus  with  vital  knowledge,  through  them — 
as  neither  do  I  deny  that  there  are  persons  with  such 
eminent  aptitudes  for  grammatical  and  philological 
studies,  that  they  may  be  brought  in  contact  with 


\ 

THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         185^ 

vital  knowledge  through  them—  nevertheless,[l  am 
convinced  that  of  the  hundreds  whom  our  present 
system  tries  without  distinction  to  bring  into  contact 
with  Alterthumswissenschaft  through  composition 
and  philology  almost  alone,  the  immense  majority 
would  have  a  far  better  chance  of  being  brought 
into  vital  contact  with  it  through  literature,  by 
treating  the  study  of  Greek  and  Latin  as  we  jreat 
our  French,  or  Italian,  or  German  studies  J  In 
other  words,  the  number  of  persons  with  aptitudes 
for  being  carried  to  vital  knowledge  by  the  literary 
or  historical,  or  philosophical,  or  artistic  sense  — 
to  each  of  which  senses  we  give  a  chance  by  treating 
Greek  and  Latin  as  Literature,  and  not  as  mere 
scholarship  —  is  infinitely  greater  than  the  number  of 
those  whose  aptitudes  are  for  composition  and 


"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  167-170. 

The  Commercial  Theory  of  Education 

WE  have  still  to  make  the  mother-tongue  and  its 
literature  a  part  of  the  school  course  ;  foreign 
nations  have  done  this,  and  we  shall  do  it  ;  but 
neither  foreign  nations  nor  we  have  yet  quite  learnt 
how  to  deal,  for  school  purposes,  with  modern 
foreign  languages.  The  great  notion  is  to  teach 
them  for  speaking  purposes,  with  a  view  to  practical 
convenience.  This  notion  clearly  belongs  to  what 
I  have  called  the  commercial  theory  of  education, 
and  not  the  liberal  theory  ;  and  the  faultiness  of  the 
commercial  theory  is  well  seen  by  examining  this 


i86         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

notion  and  its  fruits.  Mr.  Marsh,  the  well-known 
author  of  the  History  of  the  English  Language,  who 
has  passed  his  life  in  diplomacy,  and  is  himself  at 
once  a  savant  and  a  linguist,  told  me  he  had  been 
much  struck  by  remarking  how,  in  general,  the 
accomplishment  of  speaking  foreign  languages  tends 
to  strain  the  mind,  and  to  make  it  superficial  and 
averse  to  going  deep  in  anything.  He  instanced 
the  young  diplomatists  of  the  new  school,  who,  he 
said,  could  rattle  along  in  two  or  three  languages, 
but  could  do  nothing  else.  Perhaps  in  old  times 
the  young  diplomatists  could  neither  do  that  nor 
anything  else,  so  in  their  case  there  may  be  now  a 
gain  ;  but  there  is  great  truth  in  Mr.  Marsh's  remark 
that  the  speaking  several  languages  tends  to  make 
the  thought  thin  and  shallow,  and  so  far  from  in 
itself  carrying  us  to  vital  knowledge,  needs  a  com- 
pensating force  to  prevent  its  carrying  us  away 
from  it.  But  the  true  aim  of  schools  and  instruction 
is  to  develope  the  powers  of  our  mind  and  to  give  us 
access  to  vital  knowledge. 

Again  :  if  the  speaking  of  foreign  languages  is  a 
prime  school  aim,  this  aim  is  clearly  best  reached  by 
sending  a  boy  to  a  foreign  school.  Great  numbers 
of  English  parents,  accordingly,  who  from  their 
own  want  of  culture  are  particularly  prone  to  the 
more  obvious  theory  of  education — the  commercial 
one — send  their  boys  abroad  to  be  educated.  Yet 
the  basis  of  character  and  aptitudes  proper  for 
living  and  working  in  any  country  is  no  doubt  best 
formed  by  being  reared  in  that  country,  and  passing 
the  ductile  and  susceptible  time  of  boyhood  there ; 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         187 

and  in  this  case  Solomon's  saying  applies  admirably  : 
"  As  a  bird  that  wandereth  from  her  nest,  so  is  a  man 
that  wandereth  from  his  place."  That,  therefore,  can 
hardly  be  a  prime  school-aim,  which  to  be  duly 
reached  requires  from  the  scholar  an  almost  irre- 
parable sacrifice.  So  the  learning  to  speak  foreign 
languages,  showy  as  the  accomplishment  always  is, 
and  useful  as  it  often  is,  must  be  regarded  as  a  quite 
secondary  and  subordinate  school-aim.  Something 
of  it  may  be  naturally  got  in  connection  with  learning 
the  languages ;  and,  above  all,  the  instructor's 
precept  and  practice  in  pronunciation  should  be 
sound,  not,  as  in  our  old  way  of  teaching  these 
languages  through  incompetent  English  masters 
it  too  often  was,  utterly  barbarous  and  misleading  ; 
but  all  this  part  is  to  be  perfected  elsewhere,  and  is 
not  to  be  looked  upon  as  true  school  business.  It 
is  as  literature,  and  as  opening  fresh  roads  into 
knowledge,  that  the  modern  foreign  languages,  like 
the  ancient,  are  truly  school  business  ;  and  far  more 
ought  to  be  done  with  them,  on  this  view  of  their 
use,  than  has  ever  been  done  yet. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  172-175. 


The  Conclusion  of  the  Whole  Matter 

To  sum  up,  then,  the  conclusions  to  which  these 
remarks  lead.  The  idea  of  a  general,  liberal  training, 
is  to  carry  us  to  a  knowledge  of  ourselves  and  the 
world.  We  are  called  to  this  knowledge  by  special 
aptitudes  which  are  bora  with  us ;  the  grand  thing 


i88         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

in  teaching  is  to  have  faith  that  some  aptitudes  of 
this  kind  every  one  has.  This  one's  special  aptitudes 
are  for  knowing  men — the  study  of  the  humanities  ; 
that  one's  special  aptitudes  are  for  knowing  the 
world — the  study  of  nature.  The  circle  of  know- 
ledge comprehends  both,  and  we  should  all  have  some 
notion,  at  any  rate,  of  the  whole  circle  of  knowledge. 
The  rejection  of  the  humanities  by  the  realists,  the 
rejection  of  the  study  of  nature  by  the  humanists, 
are  alike  ignorant.  He  whose  aptitudes  carry  him 
to  the  study  of  nature  should  have  some  notion  of 
the  humanities  ;  he  whose  aptitudes  carry  him  to 
the  humanities  should  have  some  notion  of  the 
phenomena  and  laws  of  nature.  Evidently,  there- 
fore, the  beginnings  of  a  liberal  culture  should  be 
the  same  for  both.  The  mother-tongue,  the  elements 
of  Latin,  and  of  the  chief  modern  languages,  the 
elements  of  history,  of  arithmetic  and  geometry, 
of  geography,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  nature,  should 
be  the  studies  of  the  lower  classes  in  all  secondary 
schools,  and  should  be  the  same  for  all  boys  at  this 
stage.  So  far,  therefore,  there  is  no  reason  for  a 
division  of  schools.  But  then  comes  a  bifurcation, 
according  to  the  boy's  aptitudes  and  aims.  Either 
the  study  of  the  humanities  or  the  study  of  nature 
is  henceforth  to  be  the  predominating  part  of  his 
instruction.  Evidently  there  are  some  advantages 
in  making  one  school  include  those  who  follow  both 
these  studies.  It  is  the  more  economical  arrange- 
ment ;  and  when  the  humanities  and  the  real 
studies  are  in  the  same  school  there  is  less  likelihood 
of  the  social  stamp  put  on  the  boy  following  the  one 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         189 

of  them  being  different  from  that  put  on  a  boy 
following  the  other. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  175-176. 

Our  Middle  Class  Education 

NEITHER  is  the  secondary  and  superior  instruction 
given  in  England  as  good  on  the  whole,  if  we  regard 
the  whole  number  of  those  to  whom  it  is  due,  as  that 
given  in  Germany  or  France,  nor  is  it  given  in  schools 
of  so  good  a  standing.  Of  course,  what  good 
instruction  there  is,  and  what  schools  of  good  stand- 
ing there  are  to  get  it  in,  fall  chiefly  to  the  lot  of  the 
upper  class.  It  is  on  the  middle  class  that  the 
injury,  such  as  it  is,  of  getting  inferior  instruction, 
and  of  getting  it  in  schools  of  inferior  standing, 
mainly  comes.  This  injury,  as  it  strikes  one  after 
seeing  attentively  the  schools  of  the  Continent,  has 
two  aspects.  It  has  a  social  aspect,  and  it  has  an 
intellectual  aspect. 

The  social  injury  is  this.  On  the  Continent  the 
upper  and  middle  class  are  brought  up  on  one  and 
the  same  plane.  In  England  the  middle  class,  as  a 
rule,  is  brought  up  on  the  second  plane.  One  hears 
many  discussions  as  to  the  limits  between  the  middle 
and  the  upper  class  in  England.  From  a  social 
and  educational  point  of  view  these  limits  are 
perfectly  clear.  Ten  or  a  dozen  famous  schools, 
Oxford  or  Cambridge,  the  church  or  the  bar,  the 
army  or  navy,  and  those  posts  in  the  public  service 
supposed  to  be  posts  for  gentlemen — these  are  the 
lines  of  training,  all  or  any  of  which  give  a  cast  of 


igo          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

ideas,  a  stamp  or  habit,  which  make  a  sort  of  associa- 
tion of  all  those  who  share  them  ;  and  this  association 
is  the  upper  class.  Except  by  one  of  these  modes  of 
access,  an  Englishman  does  not,  unless  by  some 
special  play  of  aptitude  or  of  circumstances,  become  a 
vital  part  of  this  association,  for  he  does  not  bring 
with  him  the  cast  of  ideas  in  which  its  bond  of  union 
lies.  This  cast  of  ideas  is  naturally  in  the  main  that 
of  the  most  powerful  and  prominent  part  of  the 
association  —  the  aristocracy.  The  professions 
furnish  the  more  numerous  but  less  prominent  part  ; 
in  no  country,  accordingly,  do  the  professions  so 
naturally  and  generally  share  the  cast  of  ideas  of 
the  aristocracy  as  in  England.  Judged  from  its 
bad  side,  this  cast  of  ideas  is  characterised  by  over- 
reverence  for  things  established,  by  an  estrangement 
from  the  powers  of  reason  and  science.  Judged 
from  its  good  side,  it  is  characterised  by  a  high  spirit, 
by  dignity,  by  a  just  sense  of  the  greatness  of  great 
affairs — all  of  them  governing  qualities  ;  and  the 
professions  have  accordingly  long  recruited  the 
governing  force  of  the  aristocracy,  and  assisted  it  to 
rule.  But  they  are  separate,  to  a  degree  unknown 
on  the  Continent,  from  the  commercial  and  industrial 
classes  with  which  in  social  standing  they  are 
naturally  on  a  level.  So  we  have  amongst  us  the 
spectacle  of  a  middle  class  cut  in  two  in  a  way 
unexampled  anywhere  else ;  of  a  professional  class 
brought  up  on  the  first  plane,  with  fine  and  governing 
qualities,  but  disinclined  to  rely  on  reason  and 
science ;  while  that  immense  business  class,  which 
is  becoming  so  important  a  power  in  all  countries, 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         191 

on  which  the  future  so  much  depends,  and  which 
in  the  great  public  schools  of  other  countries  fills 
so  large  a  place,  is  in  England  brought  up  on  the 
second  plane,  cut  off  from  the  aristocracy  and  the 
professions,  and  without  governing  qualities. 

If  only,  in  compensation,  it  had  science,  sys- 
tematic knowledge,  reason  !  But  here  comes  in 
the  intellectual  mischief  of  the  bad  condition  of  the 
mass  of  our  secondary  schools.  In  England  the 
business  class  is  not  only  inferior  to  the  professions 
and  aristocracy  in  the  social  stamp  of  its  places  of 
training  ;  it  is  actually  inferior  to  them,  maimed  and 
incomplete  as  their  development  of  reason  is,  in 
its  development  of  reason.  Short  as  the  offspring 
of  our  public  schools  and  universities  come  of  the 
idea  of  science  and  systematic  knowledge,  the  off- 
spring of  our  middle-class  academies  probably  come, 
if  that  be  possible,  even  shorter.  What  these 
academies  fail  to  give  in  social  and  governing 
qualities,  they  do  not  make  up  for  in  intellectual 
power.  Their  intellectual  result  is  as  faulty  as  their 
social  result. 

If  this  be  true,  then  that  our  middle  class  does 
not  yet  itself  see  the  defects  of  its  own  education, 
is  not  conscious  of  the  injury  to  itself  from  them, 
and  is  satisfied  with  things  as  they  are,  is  no 
reason  for  regarding  this  state  of  things  without 
disquietude. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  chap,  ix. 
p.  187. 


192         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Relative  Efficiency  of  Public  and  Private 
Schools 

FROM  the  moment  you  seriously  desire  to  have  your 
schools  efficient,  the  question  between  public  and 
private  schools  is  settled.  Of  public  schools  you 
can  take  guarantees,  of  private  schools  you  cannot. 
Guarantees  cannot  be  absolutely  certain.  It  is 
possible  for  a  private  school,  which  has  given  no 
guarantees,  to  be  good ;  it  is  possible  for  a  public 
school,  which  has  given  guarantees,  to  be  bad.  But 
even  in  England  the  disbelief  in  human  reason  is 
hardly  strong  enough  to  make  us  seriously  contend 
that  a  rational  being  cannot  frame  for  a  known 
purpose  guarantees  which  give  him,  at  any  rate,  more 
numerous  chances  of  reaching  that  purpose  than  he 
would  have  without  them. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  200. 


Functions  of  a  Council  of  Education 

A  HIGH  Council  of  Education,  such  as  exists  in 
France,  and  Italy,  comprising  without  regard  to 
politics  the  personages  most  proper  to  be  heard 
on  questions  of  public  education,  a  consultative  body 
only,  but  whose  opinion  the  minister  should  be 
obliged  to  take  on  all  important  measures  not 
purely  administrative,  would  be  an  invaluable  aid 
to  an  English  Education  Minister,  an  invaluable 
institution  in  our  too  political  country. 

One    or    two    matters    which    I    have    already 
approached  or  touched  in  the  course  of  this  volume 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         193 

are  matters  on  which  it  would  be  the  natural  function 
of  such  a  Council  to  advise.     It  would  be  its  function 
to  advise  on  the  propriety  of  subjecting  children 
under  a  certain  age  to  competitive  examination,,  in 
order  to  determine  their  admission  to  public  founda- 
tions.    It  would  be  its  function  to  advise  on  the 
employment  of  the  examination  test  for  the  public 
service  ;  whether  this  security  should,  as  at  present, 
be  relied  on  exclusively,  or  whether  it  should  not 
be  preceded  by  securities  for  the  applicant  having 
previously  passed  a  certain  time  under  training  and 
teachers  of  a  certain  character,  and  stood  certain 
examinations    in    connection    with    that    training. 
It  would  be  its  function  to  advise  on  the  organisation 
of  school  and  university  examinations,   and  their 
adjustment  to  one  another.     It  would  be  its  function 
to  advise  on  the  graduation  of  schools  in  proper 
stages,  from  the  elementary  to  the  highest  school ; 
it  would  be  its  function  to  advise  on  school  books, 
and,  above  all,  on  studies,  and  on  the  plan  of  work 
for  schools ;    a  business  which,  as  I  have  said,  is 
more  and  more  inviting  discussion  and  ripening  for 
settlement.     We  have  excellent  materials  in  England 
for  such  a  Council.     Properly  composed,  and  pro- 
perly representing  the  grave  interests  concerned  in 
the  questions  it  has  to  treat,  it  would  not  only  have 
great  weight  with  the  minister,  but   great  weight 
as  an  illustrious,   unpaid,   deliberative,   and  non- 
ministerial   body,    with   the   country,    and   would 
greatly  strengthen  the  minister's  hand  for  important 
reforms. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  201-203. 

O 


I94          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Public  Supervision  of  Endowed  Schools 

SOME  of  our  present  chief  schools,  like  Eton  and 
Westminster  and  Christ's  Hospital,  are  royal  founda- 
tions. Here  the  right  of  the  State  to  have  a  share 
in  the  whole  administration  of  the  institution,  and  a 
voice  in  the  nomination  of  the  masters,  immediately 
arises.  Others,  like  Winchester,  Rugby,  and  Harrow, 
are  not  royal  foundations,  but  all  of  them  are  founda- 
tion schools,  and  therefore  to  all  of  them,  as  such,  a 
right  of  public  supervision  applies.  The  best  form 
this  supervision  can  possibly  take  is  that  of  a  partici- 
pation, as  in  Germany,  by  the  public  authority 
represented  through  the  Provincial  School  Boards 
or  through  members  of  the  High  Council  of  Educa- 
tion, in  their  main  examinations.  On  these  examina- 
tions matriculation  at  the  university,  and  access  to  all 
the  higher  lines  of  public  employment  should  be  made 
to  depend.  The  pupils  of  private  schools  should  be 
admitted  to  undergo  them.  In  this  way  every 
endowed  school  in  the  kingdom  would  have  yearly 
an  all-important  examination  following  a  line  traced 
or  sanctioned  by  the  most  competent  authority, 
the  Superior  Council  of  Education ;  and  with  a 
direct  or  indirect  representation  of  this  authority 
taking  part  in  it.  The  organisation  of  studies  in 
our  very  best  schools  could  not  fail  to  gain  by  this  ; 
in  all  but  the  very  best  it  would  be  its  regeneration. 
Even  in  England,  where  the  general  opinion  would 
be  opposed  to  requiring,  as  in  Germany,  for  the 
appointment  of  all  public  schoolmasters  the  sanction 
of  a  public  authority,  there  could  be  no  respectable 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         195 

objection  urged  to  such  a  mode  of  public  intervention 
as  this ;  the  one  bulwark,  to  repeat  Wilhelm  von 
Humboldt's  words,  which  we  can  set  up  against 
the  misuse  of  their  patronage  by  private  trustees. 
And  we  should  at  the  same  time  get  the  happiest 
check  put  to  the  cram  and  bad  teaching  of  private 
schools,  by  compelling  them  either  to  adjust  their 
studies  to  sound  and  serious  examinations,  or  to 
cease  to  impose  upon  the  credulity  of  ignorant 
parents. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  206-208. 

English  Universities  merely  Hauts  Lycees 

THE  want  of  the  idea  of  science,  of  systematic  know- 
ledge, is,  as  I  have  said  again  and  again,  the  capital 
want,  at  this  moment,  of  English  education  and  of 
English  life ;  it  is  the  university,  or  the  superior 
school,  which  ought  to  foster  this  idea.  The 
university  or  the  superior  school  ought  to  provide 
facilities,  after  the  general  education  is  finished, 
for  the  young  man  to  go  on  in  the  line  where  his 
special  aptitudes  lead  him,  be  it  that  of  languages 
and  literature,  of  mathematics,  of  the  natural 
sciences,  of  the  application  of  these  sciences,  or  any 
other  line,  and  follow  the  studies  of  this  line  syste- 
matically under  first-rate  teaching.  Our  great 
universities,  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  do  next  to 
nothing  towards  this  end.  They  are,  as  Signer 
Matteucci  called  them,  hauls  lycees;  and  though 
invaluable  in  their  way  as  places  where  the  youth 
of  the  upper  class  prolong  to  a  very  great  age, 


1 96          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

and  under  some  very  admirable  influences,  their 
school  education,  and  though  in  this  respect  to  be 
envied  by  the  youth  of  the  upper  class  abroad,  and, 
if  possible,  instituted  for  their  benefit,  yet,  with 
their  college  and  tutor  system,  nay,  with  their 
examination  and  degree  system,  they  are  still,  in 
fact,  schools,  and  do  not  carry  education  beyond  the 
stage  of  general  and  school  education.  The  examina- 
tion for  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts,  which  we 
place  at  the  end  of  our  three  years'  university  course, 
is  merely  the  Abiturientenexamen  of  Germany,  the 
fyreuve  du  baccalaureat  of  France,  placed  in  both  of 
these  countries  at  the  entrance  to  university  studies 
instead  of,  as  with  us,  at  their  close.  Scientific 
instruction,  university  instruction,  really  begins 
when  the  degree  of  bachelor  (bas  chevalier,  knight 
of  low  degree)  is  taken,  and  the  preparation  for 
mastership  in  any  line  of  study,  or  for  doctorship 
(fitness  to  teach  it),  commences.  But  for  master- 
ship or  doctorship,  Oxford  and  Cambridge  have, 
as  is  well  known,  either  no  examination  at  all,  or 
an  examination  which  is  a  mere  form ;  they  have 
consequently  no  instruction  directed  to  these  grades  ; 
no  real  university-instruction,  therefore,  at  all.  A 
machinery  for  such  instruction  they  have,  indeed, 
in  their  possession ;  but  it  is  notorious  that  they 
do  not  practically  use  it. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  209-210. 

Provincial  Universities  Foreshadowed 
IT  is  with  our  superior  instruction  as  with  so  much 
else ;    we  have  plenty  of  scattered  materials,  but 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         197 

these  materials  need  to  be  co-ordered,  and  made, 
instead  of  being  useless  or  getting  in  one  another's 
way  as  at  present,  to  work  harmoniously  to  one  great 
design.  The  design  should  be,  to  form  centres  of 
superior  instruction  in  at  least  ten  different  parts 
of  England,  with  first-rate  professors  to  give  this 
instruction.  These  professors  should  of  course  be 
grouped  in  faculties,  each  faculty  having  its  dean. 
So  entirely  have  Oxford  and  Cambridge  become  mere 
hauls  lycees,  so  entirely  has  the  very  idea  of  a  real 
university  been  lost  by  them,  that  the  professors 
there  are  not  even  organised  in  faculties  ;  and  their 
action  is  on  this  account  alone,  if  it  were  not  on  other 
accounts  also,  perfectly  feeble  and  incoherent.  The 
action  of  professors  grouped  in  faculties,  and  con- 
certing, as  the  professors  and  Privatdocenten  of  a 
faculty  concert  in  Germany,  their  instruction  to- 
gether, is  quite  another  thing.  In  a  place  like 
London  all  the  five  faculties  of  arts,  mathematical 
and  natural  sciences,  theology,  law,  and  medicine, 
should,  of  course,  be  represented ;  but  it  is  by  no 
means  necessary  that  each  centre  of  superior 
instruction  should  have  all  these  five  faculties. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  218-219. 

Limitation  of  Degree-Giving  Powers 

NEITHER  is  it  by  any  means  necessary,  or  even 
expedient,  that  each  centre  of  faculties  should  have 
the  power  of  conferring  degrees.  To  maintain  a 
uniform  standard  of  examination  and  a  uniform 
value  for  degrees  is  most  important,  and  this  is 


198         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

impossible  when  there  are  too  many  bodies  examining 
for  degrees  and  giving  them.  Germany  suffers  from 
having  too  many  universities  granting  degrees,  and 
from  these  degrees  bearing  a  very  unequal  value. 
We  have  two  very  old  and  important  universities, 
Oxford  and  Cambridge ;  one  new  and  important 
university,  London,  and  we  want  no  more  degree- 
granting  bodies  than  these. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  220. 

State  Appointment  of  Professors 

IT  is  not  from  any  love  of  bureaucracy  that  men  like 
Wilhelm  von  Humboldt,  ardent  friends  of  human 
dignity  and  liberty,  have  had  recourse  to  a  depart- 
ment of  State  in  organising  universities  ;  it  is  because 
an  Education  Minister  supplies  you,  for  the  discharge 
of  certain  critical  functions,  the  agent  who  will 
perform  them  in  the  greatest  blaze  of  daylight  and 
with  the  keenest  sense  of  responsibility.  Convoca- 
tion made  me  formerly  a  professor ;  and  I  am  very 
grateful  to  Convocation ;  but  Convocation  is  not  a 
fit  body  to  have  the  appointment  of  professors.  It 
is  far  too  numerous,  and  the  sense  of  responsibility 
does  not  tell  upon  it  strongly  enough.  A  board  is 
not  a  fit  body  to  have  the  appointment  of  professors  ; 
men  will  connive  at  a  job  as  members  of  a  board 
who  single-handed  would  never  have  perpetrated 
it.  Even  the  Crown — that  is,  the  Prime  Minister — 
is  not  the  fit  power  to  have  the  appointment  of 
professors  ;  for  the  Prime  Minister  is,  above  all,  a 
political  functionary,  and  feels  political  influences 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         199 

overwhelmingly.  An  Education  Minister,  directly 
representing  all  the  interests  of  learning  and  intelli- 
gence in  this  great  country,  a  full  mark  for  their 
criticism  and  conscious  of  his  responsibility  to  them, 
that  is  the  power  to  whom  to  give  the  appointment  of 
professors,  not  for  his  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of 
public  education. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  pp.  222-223. 

Training  a  Better  Security  of  Fitness  than 
Examinations 

THE  end  to  have  in  view  is,  that  every  one  who 
presents  himself  to  exercise  any  calling  shall  have 
received  for  a  certain  length  of  time  the  best  in- 
struction preliminary  to  that  calling.  This  is  not, 
it  must  be  repeated  again  and  again,  an  absolute 
security  for  his  exercising  the  calling  well,  but  it  is 
the  best  security.  It  is  a  thousand  times  better 
security  than  the  mere  examination-test  on  which 
with  such  ignorant  confidence  we  are  now,  in  cases 
where  we  take  any  security  at  all,  leaning  with  our 
whole  weight. 

"  Higher  Schools  and  Universities  in  Germany,"  p.  225. 

The  English  Character 

BUT  afterwards  the  conversation  became  general. 
It  then  took  a  wider  range ;  and  I  remember  Mr. 
Frederic  Harrison  beginning  to  harangue,  with  his 
usual  fiery  eloquence,  on  the  enervation  of  England 
and  on  the  malignancy  of  all  the  brute  mass  of  us 


200          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

who  are  not  Comtists.  Arminius  checked  him. 
"  Enervation  !  "  said  he  :  "  depend  upon  it,  yours 
is  still  the  most  fighting  people  in  the  whole  world. 
Malignancy  !  The  best  character  of  the  English 
people  ever  yet  given,  friendly  as  the  character  is, 
is  still  this  of  Burke's  :  '  The  ancient  and  inbred 
integrity,  piety,  good  nature,  and  good  humour  of 
the  people  of  England.'  Your  nation  is  sound 
enough,  if  only  it  can  be  taught  that  being  able  to  do 
what  one  likes,  and  say  what  one  likes,  is  not  suffi- 
cient for  salvation.  Its  dangers  are  from  a  surfeit 
of  claptrap,  due  to  the  false  notion  that  liberty  and 
publicity  are  not  only  valuable  for  the  use  to  be 
made  of  them,  but  are  goods  in  themselves,  nay, 
are  the  summum  bonum." 

1871.  "  Friendship's  Garland,"  Dedicatory  Letter. 

Obedience  and   Right  Action 

"THERE  are  many  lessons  to  be  learned  from  the 
present  war ;  I  will  tell  you  what  is  for  you  the 
great  lesson  to  be  learned  from  it :  obedience.  That, 
instead  of  every  man  airing  his  self-consequence, 
thinking  it  bliss  to  talk  at  random  about  things, 
and  to  put  his  finger  in  every  pie,  you  should 
seriously  understand  that  there  is  a  right  way  of 
doing  things,  and  that  the  bliss  is,  without  thinking 
of  one's  self-consequence,  to  do  them  in  that  way,  or 
to  forward  their  being  done,  this  is  the  great  lesson 
your  British  public,  as  you  call  it,  has  to  learn,  and 
may  learn,  in  some  degree,  from  the  Germans  in  this 
war  !  Englishmen  were  once  famous  for  the  power 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         201 

of  holding  their  tongues  and  doing  their  business,  and, 
therefore,  I  admire  your  nation.  The  business  now 
to  be  done  in  the  world  is  harder  than  ever,  and 
needs  far  more  than  has  been  ever  needed  for  thought, 
study,  and  seriousness ;  miscarry  you  must,  if  you 
let  your  daily  doses  of  clap-trap  make  you  imagine 
that  liberty  and  publicity  can  be  any  substitutes  for 
these." 

"  Friendship's  Garland,"  p.  xii. 


National  Need  of  a  Serious  Conception  of 
Righteousness 

IT  is  an  unspeakable  relief  to  have  the  war,  I  suppose, 
over  ;  but  one  may  well  look  anxiously  to  see  what 
is  in  the  future  for  the  changed  Europe  that  we  shall 
have.  Immense  as  are  her  advantages  and  resources, 
it  does  not  seem  as  if  France  could  recover  herself 
now  as  she  did  in  1815,  or  indeed  could  recover 
herself  within  our  time  at  all.  Whatever  may  be 
said  of  the  harshness  of  such  a  sentence,  it  is  yet 
true  that  her  fall  is  mainly  due  to  that  want  of  a 
serious  conception  of  righteousness  and  the  need  of 
it,  the  consequences  of  which  so  often  show  them- 
selves in  the  world's  history,  and  in  regard  to  the 
Graeco-Latin  nations  more  particularly.  The  fall 
of  Greece,  the  fall  of  Rome,  the  fall  of  the  brilliant 
Italy  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  now  the  fall  of 
France,  are  all  examples.  Nothing  gives  more 
freshness  and  depth  to  one's  reading  of  the  Bible 
than  the  sense  that  this  is  so,  and  that  this  testimony 


202          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

is  perpetually  being  borne  to  the  book  of  righteous- 
ness, though  the  nation  out  of  which  it  came  was 
itself  a  political  failure  so  utter  and  miserable. 

"Letters,"  ii.  p.  47. 
1871. 


Recitation  as  a  Formative  Influence 

"  RECITATION  "  is  the  special  subject  which  produces 
at  present,  so  far  as  I  can  observe,  most  good.  The 
great  fault  of  the  instruction  in  our  elementary 
schools  (of  the  secular  part  of  it,  at  any  rate),  is, 
that  it  at  most  gives  to  a  child  the  mechanical 
possession  of  the  instruments  of  knowledge,  but  does 
nothing  to  form  him,  to  put  him  in  a  way  of  making 
the  best  possible  use  of  them.  As  things  now  are, 
the  time  is  not  ripe  for  laying  down  a  theory  of  how 
this  is  to  be  thoroughly  done  and  following  it ;  all 
that  can  be  said  is,  that  what  practically  will  be 
found  to  contribute  most  towards  forming  a  pupil 
is  familiarity  with  masterpieces  ;  familiarity  with 
them,  for  the  less  advanced  pupil,  in  a  very  limited 
number  and  with  each  object  of  his  study  standing 
singly ;  for  the  more  advanced  pupil,  in  a  series 
arranged  according  to  some  well-planned  order.  If 
the  "  recitation  "  is  carefully  watched,  as  to  the 
authors  and  pieces  selected,  it  does  give  us  something, 
though  only  a  commencement,  of  that  which  for  the 
less  advanced  pupil  is  needed.  I  can  already  see  the 
good  effects  of  it,  and  they  may  be  extended  much 
further.  Music,  now  that  instruction  in  it  is  made 
universal,  ought  to  lay  the  foundation  in  the  children 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION          203 

of  our  elementary  schools  of  a  cultivated  power  of 
perception  ;  "  recitation,"  in  the  present  absence  of 
any  attempt  even  to  raise  their  reading  into  some- 
thing of  a  literary  study,  must  be  relied  upon  for 
carrying  the  power  of  perception  onward. 

General  Report,  for  1872. 


Latin  in  Elementary  Schools 

IT  may  seem  over-sanguine,  but  I  hope  to  see 
Latin,  also,  much  more  used  as  a  special  subject,  and 
even  adopted,  finally,  as  part  of  the  regular  instruc- 
tion in  the  upper  classes  of  all  elementary  schools. 
Of  course,  I  mean  Latin  studied  in  a  very  simple 
way ;  but  I  am  more  and  more  struck  with  the 
stimulating  and  instructing  effect  upon  a  child's 
mind  of  possessing  a  second  language,  in  however 
limited  a  degree,  as  an  object  of  reference  and  com- 
parison. Latin  is  the  foundation  of  so  much  in  the 
written  and  spoken  language  of  modern  Europe,  that 
it  is  the  best  language  to  take  as  a  second  language  ; 
in  our  own  written  and  book  language,  above  all,  it 
fills  so  large  a  part  that  we,  perhaps,  hardly  know 
how  much  of  their  reading  falls  meaningless  upon 
the  eye  and  ear  of  children  in  our  elementary  schools, 
from  their  total  ignorance  of  either  Latin  or  a 
modern  language  derived  from  it.  For  the  little 
of  languages  that  can  be  taught  in  our  elementary 
schools,  it  is  far  better  to  go  to  the  root  at  once  ; 
and  Latin,  besides,  is  the  best  of  all  languages  to 
learn  grammar  by.  But  it  should  by  no  means  be 
taught  as  in  our  classical  schools  ;  far  less  time 


204         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

should  be  spent  on  the  grammatical  framework,  and 
classical  literature  should  be  left  quite  out  of  view. 
A  second  language,  and  a  language  coming  very 
largely  into  the  vocabulary  of  modern  nations,  is 
what  Latin  should  stand  for  to  the  teacher  of  an 
elementary  school.  I  am  convinced  that  for  his 
purpose  the  best  way  would  be  to  disregard  classical 
Latin  entirely,  to  use  neither  Cornelius  Nepos,  nor 
Eutropius,  nor  Caesar,  nor  any  delectus  from  them, 
but  to  use  the  Latin  Bible,  the  Vulgate.  A  chapter 
or  two  from  the  story  of  Joseph,  a  chapter  or  two 
from  Deuteronomy,  and  the  first  two  chapters  of  St. 
Luke's  Gospel  would  be  the  sort  of  delectus  we  want ; 
add  to  them  a  vocabulary  and  a  simple  grammar  of 
the  main  forms  of  the  Latin  language,  and  you  have  a 
perfectly  compact  and  cheap  school  book,  and  yet  all 
that  you  need.  In  the  extracts  the  child  would  be 
at  home,  instead  of,  as  in  extracts  from  classical 
Latin,  in  an  utterly  strange  land  ;  and  the  Latin  of 
the  Vulgate,  while  it  is  real  and  living  Latin,  is  yet, 
like  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament,  much  nearer 
to  modern  idiom,  and  therefore  much  easier  for  a 
modern  learner  than  classical  idiom  can  be.  True, 
a  child  whose  delectus  is  taken  from  Cornelius  Nepos 
or  Caesar  will  be  better  prepared,  perhaps,  for  going 
on  to  Virgil  and  Cicero  than  a  child  whose  delectus 
is  taken  from  the  Vulgate.  But  we  do  not  want  to 
carry  our  elementary  schools  into  Virgil  or  Cicero  ; 
one  child  in  5000,  with  a  special  talent,  may  go  on 
to  higher  schools  and  to  Virgil,  and  he  will  go  on  to 
them  all  the  better  for  the  little  we  have  at  any 
rate  given  him.  But  what  we  want  to  give  to  our 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION          205 

elementary  schools  in  general  is  the  vocabulary,  to 
some  extent,  of  a  second  language,  and  that  language 
one  which  is  at  the  bottom  of  a  great  deal  of  modern 
life  and  modern  language.  This,  I  am  convinced, 
we  may  give  in  some  such  method  as  the  method  I 
have  above  suggested,  but  in  no  other.  I  strongly 
urge  the  teachers  of  our  leading  elementary  schools, 
and  all  who  are  interested  in  raising  the  instruction 
in  these  schools,  to  reflect  on  what  I  have  here 
said. 

General  Report,  1872. 

Educational  Interest  of  "A  Bible  Reading  for 
Schools  " 

INTO  the  education  of  the  people  there  comes,  with 
us,  at  any  rate,  absolutely  nothing  grand  ;  now  there 
is  a  fatal  omission  (alles  Grandioses  bildet,  as  Goethe 
says),  and  my  little  book  in  an  attempt  to  remedy  it. 
I  am  afraid  it  will  be  used  first  in  schools  of  a  higher 
kind,  but  I  am  not  without  hope  it  will  reach  the 
Volksschule  at  last. 

1872.  "  Letters,"  ii.  p.  86. 


Importance  of  Letters  in  Schools  for  the 
People 

AND  why  is  the  attempt  made  ?  It  is  made  because 
of  my  conviction  of  the  immense  importance  in 
education  of  what  is  called  letters  ;  of  the  side  which 
engages  our  feelings  and  imagination.  Science,  the 
side  which  engages  our  faculty  of  exact  knowledge, 


2o6          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

may  have  been  too  much  neglected ;  more  par- 
ticularly this  may  have  been  so  as  regards  our  know- 
ledge of  nature.  This  is  probably  true  of  our 
secondary  schools  and  universities.  But  on  our 
schools  for  the  people  (by  this  good  German  name  let 
us  call  them,  to  mark  the  overwhelmingly  pre- 
ponderant share  which  falls  to  them  in  the  work 
of  national  education)  the  power  of  letters  has  hardly 
been  brought  to  bear  at  all ;  certainly  it  has  not 
been  brought  to  bear  in  excess,  as  compared  with 
the  power  of  the  natural  sciences.  And  now, 
perhaps,  it  is  less  likely  than  ever  to  be  brought  to 
bear.  The  natural  sciences  are  in  high  favour ;  it 
is  felt  that  they  have  been  unduly  neglected,  they 
have  gifted  and  brilliant  men  for  their  advocates, 
schools  for  the  people  offer  some  special  facilities  for 
introducing  them  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  Bible, 
which  would  naturally  be  the  great  vehicle  for 
conveying  the  power  of  letters  into  these  schools,  is 
withdrawn  from  the  list  of  matters  with  which 
Government  inspection  concerns  itself,  and,  so  far, 
from  attention.  At  the  same  time,  good  com- 
pendiums  for  the  teaching  of  the  natural  sciences 
in  schools  for  the  people  are  coming  forth  ;  and 
the  advantage  to  any  branch  of  study  of  possessing 
good  and  compendious  text-books  it  is  impossible  to 
overrate.  The  several  natural  sciences,  too,  from 
their  limited  and  definite  character,  admit  better  of 
being  advantageously  presented  by  short  text-books 
than  such  a  wide  and  indefinite  subject-matter — 
nothing  less  than  the  whole  history  of  the  human 
spirit — as  that  which  belongs  to  letters ;  and  this 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         207 

inherent  advantage  men  of  skill  and  talent,  like  the 
authors  of  the  text-books  I  speak  of,  are  just  the 
people  to  turn  to  the  best  account.  So  that  at  the 
very  time  when  the  friends  of  the  natural  sciences 
have  the  public  favour  with  them  in  saying  to 
letters  :  "  Give  place,  you  have  had  more  than  your 
share  of  attention !  "  their  case  is  still  further 
improved  by  their  being  able  to  produce  their  own 
well-planned  text-books  for  physics,  and  then  to 
point  to  the  literary  text-books  now  in  use  in  schools 
for  the  people,  and  to  say  to  the  friend  of  letters  : 
"  And  this  is  what  you  have  to  offer  !  this  is  what 
you  make  such  a  fuss  over!  this  is  what  you  keep  our 
studies  out  in  the  cold  for  !  "  And  in  truth,  while 
for  those  branches  of  study  which  belong  partly  to 
letters,  partly  to  science — language,  geography, 
history — our  schools  for  the  people  have  no  text- 
books meriting  comparison  with  the  new  text-books 
in  physics,  the  schools  are  in  a  worse  plight  still  when 
we  come  to  their  means  of  acquainting  their  scholars 
with  letters  strictly  so  called,  with  poetry,  philosophy, 
eloquence.  A  succession  of  pieces  not  in  general 
well-chosen,  fragmentary,  presented  without  any 
order  or  plan,  and  very  ill-comprehended  by  the 
pupil,  is  what  our  schools  for  the  people  give  as 
letters  ;  and  the  effect  wrought  by  letters  in  these 
schools  may  be  said,  therefore,  to  be  absolutely 
null. 

"  A  Bible  Reading  for  Schools,"  pp.  vi-vii. 


2o8         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Value  of  a  Classical  Education 

IT  is  through  the  apprehension,  either  of  all  litera- 
ture— the  entire  history  of  the  human  spirit — or  of 
a  single  great  literary  work,  as  a  connected  whole, 
that  the  real  power  of  letters  makes  itself  felt.  Our 
leading  secondary  schools  give  the  best  share  of 
their  time  to  the  literature  of  Greece  and  Rome. 
We  shall  not  blame  them  for  it ;  this  literature  is, 
indeed,  only  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  human  spirit, 
but  it  is  a  very  important  part.  Yet  how  little, 
let  us  remark,  do  they  conceive  this  literature  as  a 
whole  !  how  little,  therefore,  do  they  get  at  its 
significance  !  how  little  do  they  know  it !  how  little 
does  it  become  a  power,  in  their  hands,  towards 
wide  and  complete  knowledge  ! N  But  though  in  our 
secondary  schools  the  scholar  is  not  led  to  apprehend 
Greek  and  Latin  literature  as  a  whole,  he  is  (and  this 
is  a  very  important  matter)  led  and  often  enabled  to 
lay  hold  of  single  great  works  or  connected  portions 
of  great  works,  of  that  literature  as  wholes.  Even 
supposing  that  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey  and  Aeneid  and 
Oresteia  are  seldom  entirely  read  at  school,  yet 
we  must  admit  that  portions  of  the  Iliad,  Odyssey, 
and  Aeneid,  and  single  plays  of  the  Oresteia  do  form 
important  wholes  by  themselves,  and  that  all  the 
upper  scholars  in  our  chief  schools  have  read  them. 
What  these  scholars  read  or  learn  of  English  litera- 
ture may  be  no  more  than  what  the  scholars  in  our 
schools  for  the  people  read  or  learn  of  it — short 
single  pieces,  or  else  bits  detached  here  and  there 
from  longer  works.  But  the  last  book  of  the  Iliad, 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION          209 

or  the  sixth  book  of  the  Aeneid,  or  the  Agamemnon, 
are  considerable  wholes  in  themselves,  and  these 
and  other  wholes  of  like  beauty  and  magnitude  they 
do  read.  And  all  their  training  has  been  such  as 
to  help  them  to  understand  what  they  read ;  they 
have  always  been  hearing  and  learning  (far  too  much 
so,  many  people  think)  about  the  objects  and 
personages  they  meet  with  in  it ;  Helicon  and 
Parnassus  are  far  more  familiar  names  to  them  than 
Snowdon  or  Skiddaw ;  Troy  and  Mycenae  than  Berlin 
or  Vienna ;  Zeus  and  Phoebus  than  the  gods  of 
their  own  ancestors,  Odin  and  Thor.  So  they  are 
brought  into  "  the  presence  and  the  power  of  great- 
ness," as  Wordsworth  calls  it,  in  these  indisputably 
great  works  and  great  wholes ;  and  when  they  are 
so  brought,  they  may,  if  they  attend,  "  perceive  " 
it ;  they  have  the  equipment  of  notions  and  of 
previous  information  qualifying  them  to  perceive 
it.  Now  to  know  what  Greece  is,  as  a  factor  in  the 
history  of  the  human  spirit,  is  one  thing  ;  to  take  in 
and  enjoy  the  Agamemnon  is  another.  But  each 
is  a  whole  ;  the  two  wholes  are  of  a  very  different 
degree  of  value,  nevertheless  the  second  is  a  whole, 
and  a  worthy  whole,  as  well  as  the  first ;  and  the 
apprehension  of  it  leads,  however  rudimentarily, 
towards  the  first,  and  towards  the  whole  of  which 
the  first  is  itself  but  a  part.  For  it  tends — how  much 
we  cannot  exactly  determine,  not  much  in  one  case, 
in  another  more  than  we  could  have  believed  possible 
— it  does  tend,  as  Wordsworth  again  says,  in  lines 
which  if  not  exactly  good  verse  are  at  any  rate  good 
philosophy,  to — 

p 


210         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

"  Nourish  imagination  in  her  growth, 
And  give  the  mind  that  apprehensive  power, 
Whereby  she  is  made  quick  to  recognise 
The  moral  properties  and  scope  of  things." 

"  A  Bible  Reading  for  Schools,"  pp.  vii-viii. 


Relation  of  Classical  to  Modern  Poetry 

IN  general,  the  scholars  in  our  schools  for  the  people 
come  in  contact  with  English  literature  in  a  mere 
fragmentary  way,  by  short  pieces  or  by  odds  and 
ends  ;  and  the  power  of  a  great  work  as  a  whole 
they  have,  therefore,  no  chance  of  feeling.  But 
attempts  are  now  sometimes  made  to  acquaint  them 
with  some  whole  work,  which  is  supposed  to  be 
clear  and  simple,  such  as,  for  instance,  Goldsmith's 
Deserted  Village  or  his  Traveller.  The  Deserted 
Village  and  the  Traveller,  works  of  a  very  different 
rank  from  the  same  author's  Vicar  of  Wakefield, 
may  be  called  good  poems,  but  they  are  good 
poems  amongst  poetry  of  the  second  or  even  the 
third  order,  and  it  would  be  absurd  to  speak  of 
feeling  the  power  of  poetry  through  them  as  one 
feels  it  through  the  Agamemnon.  But  besides  this, 
the  modern  literatures  have  so  grown  up  under  the 
influence  of  the  literature  of  Greece  and  Rome,  that 
the  forms,  fashions,  notions,  wordings,  allusions  of 
that  literature  have  got  deeply  into  them,  and  are 
an  indispensable  preparation  for  understanding 
them  ;  now  this  preparation  the  scholars  in  our 
secondary  schools,  we  have  seen,  have  ;  all  their 
training  is  such  as  to  give  it  them,  and  it  has  thus 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         211 

passed  into  all  the  life  and  speech  of  what  are  called 
the  cultivated  classes.  The  people  are  without  it ; 
and  how  much  of  English  literature  is,  therefore, 
almost  unintelligible  to  the  people,  or  at  least  to  the 
people  in  their  commencements  of  learning — to  the 
children  of  the  people — we  can  hardly  perhaps  enough 
convince  ourselves.  What  the  people  can  under- 
stand is  such  speech  as — 

"  He  sees  his  little  lot  the  lot  of  all ;  " 

but  how  small  a  proportion  do  lines  like  these  bear,  in 
Goldsmith's  poetry,  to  lines  like — 

"  The  pregnant  quarry  teem'd  with  human  form." 

Or 

"  See  opulence,  her  grandeur  to  maintain. 
Lead  stern  depopulation  in  her  train  ;  " 

and  everything  of  this  kind  falls  on  the  ear  of  the 
people  simply  as  words  without  meaning.  Such 
diction  is  a  reminiscence,  bad  or  good,  of  Latin 
literature  with  its  highly  artificial  manner ;  and 
such  has  been  the  influence  of  classical  antiquity 
that  this  sort  of  diction,  and  the  sort  of  notions  that 
go  with  it,  pervade  in  some  shape  or  other  nearly 
all  our  literature — pervade  works  of  infinitely  higher 
merit  than  these  poems  of  Goldsmith.  And  where- 
ever  this  sort  of  diction  and  of  notions  presents 
itself,  the  people,  one  may  say  generally,  are  thrown 
out.  A  preparation  is  required  which  they  have  not 
had. 

"  A  Bible  Reading  for  Schools,"  pp.  ix-x. 


212         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

The  Bible  the  only  Possible  Classic  for  the 
People 

ONLY  one  literature  there  is,  one  great  literature, 
for  which  the  people  have  had  a  preparation — the 
literature  of  the  Bible.  However  far  they  may  be 
from  having  a  complete  preparation  for  it,  they  have 
some ;  and  it  is  the  only  great  literature  for  which 
they  have  any.  Their  bringing  up,  what  they  have 
heard  and  talked  of  ever  since  they  were  born,  have 
given  them  no  sort  of  conversance  with  the  forms, 
fashions,  notions,  wordings,  allusions,  of  literature 
having  its  source  in  Greece  and  Rome  ;  but  they  have 
given  them  a  good  deal  of  conversance  with  the 
forms,  fashions,  notions,  wordings,  allusions,  of  the 
Bible.  Zion  and  Babylon  are  their  Athens  and 
Rome,  their  Ida  and  Olympus  are  Tabor  and 
Hermon,  Sharon  is  their  Tempe  ;  these  and  the  like 
Bible  names  can  reach  their  imagination,  kindle 
trains  of  thought  and  remembrance  in  them.  The 
elements  with  which  the  literature  of  Greece  and 
Rome  conjures,  have  no  power  on  them  ;  the  elements 
with  which  the  literature  of  the  Bible  conjures,  have. 
Therefore  I  have  so  often  insisted,  in  reports  to  the 
Education  Department,  on  the  need,  if  from  this 
point  of  view  only,  for  the  Bible  in  schools  for  the 
people.  If  poetry,  philosophy,  and  eloquence,  if 
what  we  call  in  one  word  letters,  are  a  power,  and  a 
beneficent  wonder-working  power,  in  education, 
through  the  Bible  only  have  the  people  much  chance 
of  getting  at  poetry,  philosophy,  and  eloquence. 
Perhaps  I  may  here  quote  what  I  have  at  former 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         213 

times  said  :  "  Chords  of  power  are  touched  by  this 
instruction  which  no  other  part  of  the  instruction 
in  a  popular  school  reaches,  and  chords  various,  not 
the  single  religious  chord  only.  The  Bible  is  for 
the  child  in  an  elementary  school  almost  his  only 
contact  with  poetry  and  philosophy.  What  a 
course  of  eloquence  and  poetry  (to  call  it  by  that 
name  alone)  is  the  Bible  in  a  school  which  has  and 
can  have  but  little  eloquence  and  poetry  !  and  how 
much  do  our  elementary  schools  lose  by  not  having 
any  such  source  as  part  of  their  school-programme. 
All  who  value  the  Bible  may  rest  assured  that  thus 
to  know  and  possess  the  Bible  is  the  most  certain 
way  to  extend  the  power  and  efficacy  of  the  Bible." 

"  A  Bible  Reading  for  Schools,"  pp.  x-xi. 


Hindrances  to  Bible   Reading  in   Schools 

I  ABSTAIN  from  touching  here  on  the  political  and 
ecclesiastical  causes  which  obstruct  such  a  use  of 
the  Bible  in  our  popular  schools.  A  cause  more 
real  is  to  be  found  in  the  conditions  which  at  present 
rule  our  Bible-reading  itself.  If  letters  are  a  power, 
and  if  the  first  stage  in  feeling  this  power  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  apprehend  certain  great  works  as 
connected  wholes,  then  it  must  be  said  that  there 
are  hardly  any  means  at  present  for  enabling  young 
learners  to  get  at  this  power  through  the  Bible. 
And  for  two  reasons.  The  Catholics  taunted  the 
Reformers  with  their  Bible-Babel;  and  indeed  that 
grand  and  vast  miscellany  which  presents  itself  to 
us  between  the  two  covers  of  the  Bible  has  in  it 


214         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

something  overpowering  and  bewildering.  And  its 
mass  has  never  been  grappled  with,  and  separated, 
and  had  clear  and  connected  wholes  taken  from  it 
and  arranged  so  that  learners  can  use  them,  as  the 
literature  of  Greece  and  Rome  has.  The  Bible 
stands  before  the  learner  as  an  immense  whole ; 
yet  to  know  the  Bible  as  a  whole,  to  know  it  in  its 
historical  aspect  and  in  its  connection,  to  have  a 
systematic  acquaintance  with  its  documents,  is  as 
great  an  affair  as  to  know  Greek  literature  as  a  whole  ; 
and  we  have  seen  how  far  our  best  education  is 
from  accomplishing  this.  But  our  best  education 
does  at  any  rate  prepare  the  way  for  it,  by  presenting 
to  the  learner  great  connected  wholes  from  Greek 
literature,  like  the  Agamemnon,  and  does  give  the 
learner  every  help  for  understanding  them  ;  nothing 
or  next  to  nothing  of  this  kind  has  been  done  for 
the  Bible.  This  is  one  reason  why  the  fruitful  use 
of  the  Bible,  as  literature,  in  our  schools  for  the 
people,  is  at  present  almost  impossible.  The  other 
reason  lies  in  the  defects  of  our  translation,  noble 
as  it  is ;  defects  which  abound  most  in  those  very 
parts  of  the  Bible  which,  considered  merely  as 
literature,  might  have  most  power.  Grant  that  we 
had  definite  wholes  taken  out  of  those  parts  of  the 
Bible  which  exhibit  its  poetry  and  eloquence  most 
conspicuously ;  grant  that  these  wholes  were 
furnished  with  all  the  explanations  and  helps  for 
the  young  learner  with  which  a  Greek  master- 
piece is  furnished ;  he  would  still  again  and  again 
be  thrown  out  by  finding  what  he  reads,  though 
English,  though  his  mother  tongue,  though  always 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         215 

rhythmical,  always  nobly  sounding,  yet  fail  to  be 
intelligible,  fail  to  give  a  connexion  with  what 
precedes  and  follows,  fail,  as  we  commonly  say,  to 
make  sense.  This  is  a  more  serious  matter  than  we 
might  perhaps  think.  To  be  thrown  out  by  a 
passage  clean  unintelligible,  impairs  and  obscures 
the  reader's  understanding  of  much  more  than  that 
particular  passage  itself ;  the  entire  connexion  of 
ideas  is  broken  for  him  and  he  has  to  begin  again  ; 
and  after  several  such  passages  have  occurred  in 
succession,  he  often  reads  languidly  and  hopelessly 
where  he  had  begun  to  read  with  animation  and 
joy ;  or,  at  any  rate,  even  if  the  beauty  of  single 
phrases  and  verses  still  touches  him,  yet  all  grasp  on 
his  subject  as  a  whole  is  gone.  But  we  have  seen 
that  it  is  by  being  apprehended  as  a  whole,  that  the 
true  power  of  a  work  of  literature  makes  itself  felt. 

"  A  Bible  Reading  for  Schools,"  pp.  xi-xii. 

Disregard  of  the  Civilising  Power  of  Letters 

AN  ounce  of  practice,  they  say,  is  better  than  a  pound 
of  theory ;  and  certainly  one  may  talk  for  ever 
about  the  wonder-working  power  of  letters,  and  yet 
produce  no  good  at  all,  unless  one  really  puts  people 
in  the  way  of  feeling  this  power.  The  friends  of 
physics  do  not  content  themselves  with  extolling 
physics  ;  they  put  forth  school-books  by  which  the 
study  of  physics  may  be  with  proper  advantage 
brought  near  to  those  who  before  were  strangers  to 
it ;  and  they  do  wisely.  For  any  one  who  believes 
in  the  civilising  power  of  letters  and  often  talks  of 


216         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

this  belief,  to  think  that  he  has  for  more  than  twenty 
years  got  his  living  by  inspecting  schools  for  the 
people,  has  gone  in  and  out  among  them,  has  seen 
that  the  power  of  letters  never  reaches  them  at  all 
and  that  the  whole  study  of  letters  is  thereby  dis- 
credited, and  its  power  called  in  question,  and  yet 
has  attempted  nothing  to  remedy  this  state  of  things, 
cannot  but  be  vexing  and  disquieting.  He  may  truly 
say,  like  the  Israel  of  the  prophet :  "  We  have  not 
wrought  any  deliverance  in  the  earth  !  "  and  he 
may  well  desire  to  do  something  to  pay  his  debt  to 
popular  education  before  he  finally  departs,  and  to 
serve  it,  if  he  can,  in  that  point  where  its  need  is 
sorest,  where  he  has  always  said  its  need  was  sorest, 
and  where,  nevertheless,  it  is  as  sore  still  as  when 
he  began  saying  this,  twenty  years  ago.  Even  if 
what  he  does  cannot  be  of  service  at  once,  owing  to 
special  prejudices  and  difficulties,  yet  these  pre- 
judices and  difficulties  years  are  almost  sure  to 
dissipate,  and  it  may  be  of  service  hereafter. 

"  A  Bible  Reading  for  Schools,"  p.  xii 

Culture  Needed  for  All 

THE  poor  require  culture  as  much  as  the  rich  ;  and 
at  present  their  education,  even  when  they  get 
education,  gives  them  hardly  anything  of  it.  Yet 
hardly  less  of  it,  perhaps,  than  the  education  of 
the  rich  gives  to  the  rich.  For  when  we  say  that 
culture  is  :  To  know  the  best  that  has  been  thought 
and  said  in  the  world,  we  imply  that,  for  culture,  a 
system  directly  tending  to  this  end  is  necessary 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         217 

in  our  reading.  Now,  there  is  no  such  system  yet 
present  to  guide  the  reading  of  the  rich,  any  more 
than  of  the  poor.  Such  a  system  is  hardly  even 
thought  of ;  a  man  who  wants  it  must  make  it 
for  himself.  And  our  reading  being  so  without 
purpose  as  it  is,  nothing  can  be  truer  than  what 
Butler  says,  that  really,  in  general,  no  part  of  our 
time  is  more  idly  spent  than  the  time  spent  in  reading. 
Still,  culture  is  indispensably  necessary,  and 
culture  implies  reading  ;  but  reading  with  a  purpose 
to  guide  it,  and  with  system.  He  does  a  good  work 
who  does  anything  to  help  this  ;  indeed,  it  is  the 
one  essential  service  now  to  be  rendered  to  educa- 
tion. And  the  plea,  that  this  or  that  man  has  no 
time  for  culture,  will  vanish  as  soon  as  we  desire 
culture  so  much  that  we  begin  to  examine  seriously 
our  present  use  of  our  time.  It  has  often  been  said , 
and  cannot  be  said  too  often :  Give  to  any  man  all 
the  time  that  he  now  wastes,  not  only  on  his  vices 
(when  he  has  them),  but  on  useless  business,  weari- 
some or  deteriorating  amusements,  trivial  letter- 
writing,  random  reading  ;  and  he  will  have  plenty 
of  time  for  culture.  "  Die  Zeit  ist  unendlich  lang," 
says  Goethe  ;  and  so  it  really  is.  Some  of  us  waste 
all  of  it,  most  of  us  waste  much,  but  all  of  us  waste 
some. 

"Literature  and  Dogma,"  pp.  71-73. 


German  and  English  Law-Making 
LAWS  in  Germany  about  public  instruction  come  from 
statesmen,  and  so  too,  it  may  be  said,  do  laws  in 


2i8         THOUGHTS  'ON  EDUCATION 

England.  Now,  a  statesman  can  hardly  rise  to 
power  without  being  superior  in  range  of  experience 
and  largeness  of  judgment  to  the  mass  of  mankind  ; 
at  least,  if  he  can,  it  speaks  ill  for  those  who  employ 
him.  And,  in  Germany,  a  law  about  public  in- 
struction may  be  taken  to  be  the  best  which  a  states- 
man, superior  to  the  bulk  of  the  community  in 
experience  and  judgment,  and  free  to  use  these 
unhampered,  can  devise.  But  we  in  England  are, 
as  is  well  known,  a  self-governing  people.  This  is 
probably  in  the  long  run  the  best  possible  training 
for  a  nation,  but  let  us  observe  how  it  acts  on  our 
statesmen  and  on  our  law-making.  A  statesman 
having  to  make  a  law  about  public  instruction  is 
not,  with  us,  free  to  make  it  according  to  the  best 
lights  of  his  own  experience  and  judgment ;  he 
is  hampered  by  the  likes  and  dislikes  of  the  bulk 
of  the  community  ;  or  of  some  large  body  or  bodies 
in  the  community  which  are  necessary  to  his  support. 
And  of  the  men  in  general  who  compose  these  the 
judgment  and  experience  are,  by  the  supposition 
we  follow,  and  indeed  by  the  very  nature  of  things, 
inferior  to  his  own.  Probably  at  the  very  best  it 
will  be  a  give  and  take  between  him  and  them  ;  he 
will  concede  something  to  their  prejudices,  and  will 
try,  along  with  this  concession,  to  slip  in  as  much  of 
what  he  judges  to  be  really  right  and  expedient  as 
he  can.  But  the  more  he  slips  in  of  this  the  less  he 
will  tell  the  body  of  his  supporters  that  their  pre- 
judices are  prejudices ;  he  will  even  make  out, 
in  passing,  the  best  case  for  these  he  can,  and  will 
soothe  and  humour  them,  in  order  that  what  he 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         219 

does  gain  he  may  gain  safely.  Therefore  in  any 
matter  which,  like  education,  touches  many  passions 
and  prejudices,  we  do  not  get  the  best  our  statesmen 
would  naturally  devise  ;  and  what  we  do  get  is  given 
in  a  manner  not  to  correct  popular  prejudices,  but 
rather  to  humour  them.  Our  statesmen,  therefore, 
and  their  measures  do  directly  hardly  anything  to 
check  and  set  right  widespread  errors  amongst  the 
community.  Our  most  popular  newspapers  do  even 
less  ;  because,  while  they  have  all  the  temptations 
of  statesmen  to  coax  popular  prejudices  rather  than 
counteract  them,  they  have  not  the  same  chance  of 
being,  by  experience  and  strength  of  judgment, 
raised  really  above  them.  But  it  is  evident  that  the 
whole  value  of  its  training,  to  a  nation  which  gets 
the  training  of  self-government,  depends  upon  its 
being  told  plainly  of  its  mistakes  and  prejudices  ; 
for  mistakes  and  prejudices  a  large  body  will  always 
have,  and  to  follow  these  without  let  or  hindrance 
is  not  the  training  we  want,  but  freedom  to  act, 
with  the  most  searching  criticism  of  our  way  of 
acting. 

Now  a  criticism  of  our  way  of  acting,  in  any 
matter,  is  tacitly  supplied  by  the  practice  of  foreign 
nations,  in  a  like  manner,  put  side  by  side  with  our 
practice ;  and  this  criticism  by  actual  examples 
is  more  practical,  more  interesting,  and  more  readily 
attended  to  than  criticism  by  speculative  arguments. 
And  the  practice  of  Germany  supplies  a  searching 
criticism  of  this  kind ;  for  we  know  how  German 
practice  is  governed  by  the  notion  that  what  is  to 
be  done  should  be  done  scientifically,  as  they  say  ; 


220          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

that  is,  according  to  the  reason  of  the  thing,  under 
the  direction  of  experts,  and  without  suffering 
ignorance  and  prejudice  to  intrude.  But  this 
criticism  our  politicians  and  newspapers — having 
always,  as  we  have  seen,  to  consider  the  prejudices 
of  those  bodies  on  which  they  lean  for  support — 
will  never  apply  stringently  and  unflinchingly. 
The  practice  of  foreign  nations  they  will  always  try 
to  exhibit  by  a  side  which  may  make  their  own 
supporters  feel  proud  and  comfortable,  rather  than 
humiliated  and  uneasy,  and  perhaps  it  is  to  this 
cause,  even  more  than  to  simple  carelessness  and 
ignorance,  that  those  inaccurate  assertions  about 
foreign  universities  by  our  public  men,  on  which 
foreigners  comment,  are  attributable.  Therefore 
we  have  always  said  that  in  this  country  the  functions 
of  a  disinterested  literary  class — a  class  of  non- 
political  writers,  having  no  organised  and  embodied 
set  of  supporters  to  please,  simply  setting  themselves 
to  observe  and  report  faithfully,  and  looking  for 
favour  to  those  isolated  persons  only,  scattered 
throughout  the  community,  whom  such  an  attempt 
may  interest — are  of  incalculable  importance. 

1874.  "  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  137-140. 


University  Education  in  Ireland 

Now  we  come  to  the  principle  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment in  regard  to  university  education  in  Ireland. 
This  principle  is,  as  we  have  seen,  that  for  the  future 
we  must  not,  in  Ireland,  endow  religion  in  any  way 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         221 

whatever.  Now  it  is  remarkable  that  in  the  sound- 
ness of  this  their  principle  many  of  the  chief  members 
of  the  English  Government  appear,  if  we  may  judge 
by  their  own  admissions,  not  to  believe. 

However,  a  principle  may  no  doubt  be  sound, 
even  though  its  upholders  do  not  themselves  believe 
in  it ;  the  question  is,  Does  the  principle  of  the 
English  Government,  when  we  examine  it,  turn  out 
to  be  sound  in  itself  ?  Because  if  it  is  not,  it  can 
never  be  likely  to  succeed,  much  as  it  may  be 
written  up  and  called  a  great  and  necessary  principle. 
So  much  written  up,  indeed,  it  is,  and  asserted  so 
confidently,  that  it  has  come  to  be  treated  by  a 
great  many  people  as  almost  a  truism,  as  something 
which  in  its  general  form,  that  the  State  ought  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  religion,  one  must  begin  by 
admitting  as  a  matter  of  course,  though  circumstances 
may  here  and  there  prevent  our  as  yet  shaping  our 
action  in  conformity  to  it.  A  truism,  as  is  well 
known,  is  something  true,  and  trite.  Now,  the 
principle  in  question  is  not  exactly  a  truism,  but  it  is 
next  door  to  it ;  it  is  what  Archbishop  Whately 
used  to  call  a  falsism.  A  truism  is  something  true 
and  trite,  and  a  falsism  is  something  trite  and  false  ; 
and  that  is  just  what  the  maxim  we  are  now  dealing 
with  is  ;  something  trite  but  false,  a  falsism. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  153-154,  155. 


The  Need  of  Religion 

THE  nations  of  Europe  have  all  provided  themselves 
with  an  organisation  of  religion  just  as  they  have 


222          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

provided  themselves  with  an  organisation  of  society  ; 
the  one  was  made  a  public  affair  for  the  same  reason 
as  the  other,  because  both  were  felt  to  interest  the 
public  profoundly  as  human  needs  of  primary 
importance.  And  when  it  is  said  that  this  or  that 
thing  has  not  been  made  a  matter  of  public  organisa- 
tion, and  why  should  religion  be,  we  shall  always 
find,  if  we  look  close  enough,  that  this  was  because 
the  thing  in  question  did  not  interest  the  public 
profoundly,  was  not  held  (whatever  its  real  merits 
may  have  been)  to  be  a  thing  worth  instituting 
publicly,  a  public  need  of  primary  importance  ; 
whereas  religion  was.  Religion  has  been  publicly 
instituted  because  it  is  a  recognised  public  need  ; 
it  has  not  been  made  a  public  need  by  being  publicly 
instituted. 

Roman  Catholicism  does  not  disappear  in  Ireland, 
where  it  has  no  public  organisation,  any  more  than 
in  Germany,  where  it  has ;  but  it  is  a  thousand 
times  more  superstitious  and  unprogressive.  So 
that  the  maxim  of  Secularism,  that  the  State  must 
have  nothing  to  do  with  religion,  a  maxim  which  is 
grounded  on  the  notion  that  the  inconveniences 
of  religion  will  disappear  quicker  if  the  State  treats 
it  as  if  it  did  exist,  turns  out  to  be,  as  we  say, 
a  falsism :  that  is,  it  is  false  because  the  notion  on 
which  it  is  grounded  is  false,  at  the  same  time  that 
it  is  trite  because  so  many  Liberals  are  constantly 
saying  it. 

The  truth  is,  religion  is  too  great  a  thing,  too 
universal  a  want,  to  be  dealt  with  except  nationally. 
Men  in  general  may  think  little  and  feel  bluntly  ; 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         223 

but  the  chief  exercise  of  their  higher  thought  and 
emotion  which  they  have,  is  their  religion.  Their 
conduct  may  be  very  imperfect,  but  the  chief  guide 
and  stay  of  conduct,  so  far  as  it  has  any  at  all,  is 
their  religion.  Nothing,  therefore,  is  of  so  much 
importance  to  them. 

And  the  Liberal  party  so  much  values  itself  upon 
its  intelligence  that  with  them  we  ought  to  begin, 
and  show  them,  as  we  have  been  trying  to  show  them 
here,  that  this  old  stock  maxim  of  theirs  :  "  The 
State  (that  is,  the  nation  in  its  collective  and  corporate 
character)  is  of  no  religion,"  is  quite  unsound.  In 
exchange  for  it  we  ought  to  solicit  them,  with  a 
persistency  which  never  tires,  to  take  a  better : 
"It  is  false  to  say  the  State  is  of  no  religion  ;  the 
State  is  of  the  religion  of  all  its  citizens  without  the 
fanaticism  of  any  of  them." 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  159, 161, 191,201-202. 


State-appointed  Professors 

A  WISE  Government  will  always  regard  the  nation, 
and  rely  on  its  reasonableness,  if  its  genuine  wants 
and  wishes  are  fairly  met,  for  controlling  the  un- 
reasonableness or  ambition  of  individuals  or  corpora- 
tions. 

Experience  proves  that  the  appointment  and 
dismissal  of  professors  is  best  in  the  hands  of  no 
corporation  less  large  and  public  than  the  nation 
itself ;  your  professors  shall  be  nominated  and 


224         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

removed  ,*  not  by  the  bishops,  but  by  a  responsible 
Minister  of  State  acting  for  the  Irish  nation  itself. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  188-189. 


Clap-Trap  and  Catchwords 

BUT  in  this  and  all  the  matters  most  important  to 
us,  progress,  at  the  point  where  our  nation  now 
stands,  depends  on  our  getting  just,  clear,  well- 
ordered  thoughts  about  them,  and  setting  at 
defiance  clap-trap  and  catchwords. 

"  A  French  Eton,"  p.  215. 


Confectioner  and  Doctor 

BUT  for  an  active  politician  to  go  counter  to  clap-trap 
is,  as  we  have  seen,  hard  ;  and  indeed,  by  the  nature 
of  things  it  must  be  hard.  And  therefore  it  is  that 
we  rejoice  to  see  a  moment  of  lull  in  their  active 
political  life  come  to  so  many  of  our  Liberal  friends, 
because  they  thus  escape  from  great  temptation, 
and  are  set  free  to  use  their  intelligence.  For  the 
active  politician  can  hardly  get  on  without  deferring 
to  clap-trap  and  even  employing  it.  Nay,  as 
Socrates  amusingly  said,  the  man  who  defers  to 
clap-trap  and  the  man  who  uses  his  intelligence 

*  In  the  first  instance.  But  the  body  of  Professors  once 
formed,  and  constituting  the  Academical  Senate,  might  present 
names  to  the  minister  for  vacant  professorships.  With  the 
minister,  however,  the  ultimate  responsibility  of  appointment 
and  dismissal  should  always  rest. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         225 

are,  when  they  meet  in  the  struggle  of  active  politics, 
like  a  doctor  and  a  confectioner  competing  for  the 
suffrages  of  a  constituency  of  schoolboys ;  the 
confectioner  has  nearly  every  point  in  his  favour. 
The  confectioner  deals  in  all  that  the  constituency 
like  ;  the  doctor  is  a  man  who  hurts  them,  and  makes 
them  leave  off  what  they  like  and  take  what  is 
disagreeable.  And  accordingly  the  temptation,  in 
dealing  with  the  public  and  with  the  trade  of  active 
politics,  the  temptation  to  be  a  confectioner  is 
extremely  strong,  and  we  see  that  almost  all  our 
leading  newspapers  and  leading  politicians  do  in 
fact  yield  to  it. 

Only  the  confectioner  is  not  at  this  moment 
what  we  most  require.  Our  wants  are  the  same  as 
those  which  made  Socrates,  again,  say,  that  though 
himself  no  confectioner  and  taking  quite  another 
line  from  the  active  politicians  round  him,  indeed, 
just  because  of  this,  he,  or  any  man  who  held  the 
same  course  as  to  current  clap-trap  that  he  did, 
"  was  the  only  true  politician  of  men  now  living." 

"  A  French  Eton,"  pp.  215-216. 


Good  Recitation  as  Helping  Intelligence 

THE  great  majority  of  my  schools  now  take,  I  am 
glad  to  say,  recitation  as  an  extra  subject.  It  is, 
in  my  view,  that  part  of  the  work  in  elementary 
schools  which  does  most,  under  our  existing  circum- 
stances, to  promote  general  intelligence.  But  the 
passages  to  be  learnt  are  by  no  means  chosen  with 

Q 


226          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

sufficient  care,  and  the  learner  is  still,  although 
there  is  improvement  in  this  respect,  very  in- 
sufficiently taught  the  sense  and  allusions  of  what 
he  recites.  More  and  more  the  recitation  should  be 
turned  into  a  literature  lesson.  None  but  classical 
poetry  should  be  taken ;  we  are  far  too  much 
afraid  of  restriction  and  uniformity.  The  young 
ought  in  school  to  be  as  much  as  possible  restricted 
to  good  models ;  the  merit  of  the  old  classical 
education  was  that  it  kept  the  pupil  in  continual 
contact  with  a  few  first-rate  models.  We  laugh 
at  the  French  Minister  who  took  out  his  watch 
and  said  with  satisfaction  that  in  all  French  lycees 
the  boys  were  at  that  moment  doing  the  same 
thing.  But  really,  is  it  so  lamentable  to  think  that 
all  schoolboys  should  at  a  given  moment  be  reading 
the  fourth  eclogue  of  Virgil ;  or  is  it  so  delightful 
to  think  that  at  a  given  moment  all  schoolboys  may 
be  reading  different  pieces  of  rubbish,  out  of  in- 
numerable and  equally  accepted  collections  of  it  ? 

If  the  Education  Department  would  yearly  name 
in  its  syllabus  a  short  work  of  classical  English  poetry 
for  the  candidates  for  admission,  this  work  might 
with  great  advantage  be  adopted  for  the  recitation 
and  literature-lesson  in  the  school.  Thus  carefully 
studied  it  would  have  a  good  chance  of  being 
appropriated  and  assimilated  by  both  pupils  and 
pupil-teachers,  and  only  thus  can  such  a  work 
produce  its  due  effect.  Its  due  effect,  when  pro- 
duced, is  invaluable,  and  is  precisely  that  of  which 
our  elementary  schools  stand  most  in  need. 

These  are  details ;   but  it  is  attention  to  these 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         227 

details  of  study,  and  not  to  details  of  mere  adminis- 
tration, which  we  so  much  need.  I  limit  myself  even 
as  to  these  details  of  study,  because  it  is  easy  to 
attempt  too  much,  difficult  to  get  teachers  to  attend 
to  more  than  one  thing  at  a  time. 

General  Report,  1874. 

The  Regulation  of  Studies 

I  DO  not  like  the  course  for  the  History  School  at 
all ;  nothing  but  read,  read,  read,  endless  histories  ! 
in  English,  many  of  them  by  quite  second-rate  men  ;  \ 
nothing  to  form  the  mind  as  reading  truly  great 
authors  forms  it,  or  even  to  exercise  it  as  learning 
a  new  language,  or  mathematics,  or  one  of  the 
natural  sciences  exercises  it.  If  they  merely  put 
in  these  works  in  other  languages  into  their  History 
Tripos,  Thucydides,  Tacitus,  and  either  Montes- 
quieu's Esprit  des  Lois,  or  Guizot's  Civilisation  in 
France,  the  Tripos  would  be  incalculably  improved, 
and  would  be  a  real  training.  As  it  is,  I  am  not 
sure  that  I  would  not  sooner  Dick  had  the  discipline 
of  the  mere  degree  examination  in  classics  than  the 
no  discipline  of  even  honours  in  history.  The  one 
matter  which  gave  the  mind  something  to  school  it, 
the  Roman  Law,  which  used  to  go  along  with  the 
History,  they  have  now  taken  away.  The  fact  is, 
it  is  at  Oxford  as  it  is  at  our  schools.  The  regulation 
of  studies  is  all  important,  and  there  is  no  one  to 
regulate  them,  and  people  think  that  any  one  can 
regulate  them.  We  shall  never  do  any  good  till 
we  get  a  man  like  Guizot  or  W.  von  Humboldt  to 


228          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

deal  with  the  matter,  men  who  have  the  highest 
mental  training  themselves,  and  this  we  shall  probably 
in  this  country  never  get,  and  our  intellectual  pro- 
gress will  therefore  be  a  thousand  times  slower  than 
it  need  be,  and  generations  will  be  sacrificed  to 
bungling. 

1875.  "Letters,"  ii.  p.  123. 


Grammar  as  a  Class-Subject 

THE  spread  of  interest  in  education  was  already 
doing  much  to  re-awaken  and  re-invigorate  our 
schools,  bound  in  a  narrow  routine  and  dispirited 
as  many  of  them  certainly  were.  The  introduction 
of  the  class  subjects  of  grammar,  geography,  and 
history,  has  also  done  much  in  the  same  direction, 
and  will  do  more.  Grammar  and  geography  should 
be  the  first  of  the  class  subjects  chosen,  and  in  the 
schools  under  my  inspection  they  generally  are  so. 
I  cannot  understand  the  doubts  of  some  of  my 
colleagues  as  to  the  use  of  teaching  grammar.  The 
programme  of  a  French  elementary  school  is  notori- 
ously scanty,  but  it  always  includes  the  elements 
of  French  grammar.  Grammar  is  an  exercise  of 
the  children's  wits ;  all  the  rest  of  their  work  is  in 
general  but  an  exercise  of  their  memory.  To  learn 
the  definitions  and  rules  of  grammar  is,  indeed,  but 
an  exercise  of  memory.  But,  after  learning  the 
definition  of  a  noun,  to  recognise  nouns  when  one 
meets  with  them,  and  to  refer  them  to  their  definition, 
that  is  an  exercise  of  intelligence.  I  observe  that  it 
animates  the  children,  even  amuses  them.  Indeed, 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         229 

all  that  relates  to  language,  that  familiar  but  wonder- 
ful phenomenon,  is  naturally  interesting  if  it  is  not 
spoiled  by  being  treated  pedantically.  In  teaching 
grammar,  not  to  attempt  too  much,  and  to  be 
thoroughly  simple,  orderly,  and  clear,  is  most 
important.  The  teacher,  I  have  often  said,  should 
be  fettered  as  little  as  possible,  and  our  Codes  tend 
to  fetter  him  too  much. 

General  Report,  1876. 


Science  and  Letters 

Ax  last  year's  meeting  of  the  British  Association 
the  President  of  the  Section  for  Mechanical  Science 
told  his  hearers  that,  "  in  such  communities  as 
ours,  the  spread  of  natural  science  is  of  far  more 
immediate  urgency  than  any  other  secondary  study. 
Whatever  else  he  may  know,  viewed  in  the  light  of 
modern  necessities,  a  man  who  is  not  fairly  versed 
in  exact  science  is  only  a  half-educated  man,  and  if 
he  has  substituted  literature  and  history  for  natural 
science,  he  has  chosen  the  less  useful  alternative." 
And  more  and  more  pressure  there  will  be,  especially 
in  the  instruction  of  the  children  of  the  working 
classes,  whose  time  for  schooling  is  short,  to  sub- 
stitute natural  science  for  literature  and  history  as 
the  more  useful  alternative.  And  what  a  curious 
state  of  things  it  would  be  if  every  scholar  who  had 
passed  through  the  course  of  our  primary  schools 
knew  that,  when  a  taper  burns,  the  wax  is  converted 
into  carbonic  acid  and  water,  and  thought,  at  the 


230         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

same  time,  that  a  good  paraphrase  for  Canst  thou 
not  minister  to  a  mind  diseased,  was,  Can  you  not 
wait  upon  the  lunatic  I    The  problem  to  be  solved  is 
a  great  deal  more  complicated  than  many  of  the 
friends  of  natural  science  suppose.     They  see  clearly 
enough,  for  instance,  how  the  working  classes  are, 
in  their  ignorance,  constantly  violating  the  laws  of 
health,  and  suffering  accordingly ;    and  they  look 
to  a  spread  of  sound  natural  science  as  the  remedy. 
What  they  do  not  see  is  that  to  know  the  laws 
of  health  ever  so  exactly,  as  a  mere  piece  of  positive 
|  knowledge,  will  carry  a  man  in  general  no  great  way. 
/  To  have  the  power  of  using,  which  is  the  thing 
/  wished,  these  data  of  natural  science,  a  man  must, 
f    in  general,  have  first  been  in  some  measure  moralised  ; 
\    and  for  moralising  him  it  will  be  found  not  easy, 
•    I  think,  to  dispense  with  those  old  agents,  letters, 
poetry,  religion.     So  let  not  our  teachers  be  led  to 
imagine,  whatever  they  may  hear  and  see  of  the 
call  for  natural  science,  that  their  literary  cultiva- 
tion is  unimportant.     The  fruitful  use  of  natural 
science  itself  depends,  in  a  very  great  degree,  on 
having  effected  in  the  whole  man,  by  means  of 
letters,  a  rise  in  what  the  political  economists  call 
the  standard  of  life. 

General  Report,  1876. 


Natur-Kunde 

WE  ought  surely  to  provide  that  some  knowledge  of 
the  system  of  nature  should  form  part  of  the  regular 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         231 

class  course.  Some  fragments  of  such  knowledge 
do  in  practice  form  part  of  the  class  course  at 
present.  Children  in  learning  geography  are  taught 
something  about  the  form  and  motion  of  the  earth, 
about  the  causes  of  night  and  day  and  the  seasons. 
But  why  are  they  taught  nothing  of  the  causes, 
for  instance,  of  rain  and  dew,  which  are  at  least  as 
easy  to  explain  to  them,  and  not  less  interesting  ? 
And  this  is  what  the  teaching  of  Natur-kunde 
or  natural  philosophy  (to  use  the  formerly  received, 
somewhat  over-ambitious,  English  name  for  the 
kind  of  thing)  should  aim  at ;  it  should  aim  at 
systematising  for  the  use  of  our  schools  a  body 
of  simple  instruction  in  the  facts  and  laws  of  nature, 
so  as  to  omit  nothing  which  is  requisite,  and  to  give 
all  in  right  proportion.  Of  course  the  best  agency 
for  effecting  this  would  be  a  gifted  teacher  ;  but  as 
gifted  teachers  are  rare,  what  we  have  most  to  wish 
for  is  the  guidance  of  a  good  text-book.  Such  a  text- 
book does  not  at  present,  so  far  as  I  know,  exist ; 
some  man  of  science,  who  is  also  a  master  of  clear 
and  orderly  exposition,  should  do  us  the  benefit  of 
providing  one.  But  meanwhile  there  is  no  reason 
for  delaying  the  attempt  to  teach  in  a  systematic 
way  an  elementary  knowledge  of  nature.  Text- 
books abound  from  which  a  teacher  may  obtain  in 
separate  portions  what  he  requires  ;  there  can  be 
no  better  discipline  for  him  than  to  combine  out 
of  what  he  finds  in  them  the  kind  of  whole  suited 
to  the  simple  requirements  of  his  classes.  Some 
teachers  will  do  this  a  great  deal  better  than  others, 
but  all  will  gain  something  by  attempting  it ;  and 


232         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

their  classes  too,  however  imperfectly  it  is  at  first 
often  effected,  will  gain  by  its  being  attempted. 

General  Report,  1878. 


The  Formative  Power  of  Poetry 

IF  we  consider  it,  the  bulk  of  the  secular  instruction 
given  in  our  elementary  schools  has  nothing  of  that 
formative  character  which  in  education  is  demanded. 
As  regards  sewing,  calculating,  writing,  spelling,  this 
is  evident.  They  are  necessary,  they  have  utility, 
but  they  are  not  formative.  To  have  the  power 
of  reading  is  not  in  itself  formative.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  have  it,  and  here  is  the  defence  of  our 
promiscuous  reading  books  and  of  allowing  them 
all  to  be  used  freely ;  the  power  of  reading  has  to 
be  acquired  by  the  pupil,  and  for  acquiring  the 
power  of  reading  it  must  be  owned  that  our  reading 
books,  with  the  promiscuous  variety  of  their  con- 
tents, serve  well  enough.  But  for  a  higher  purpose, 
to  serve  in  any  way  to  form  the  pupil  in  addition  to 
giving  him  the  mere  power  of  reading,  no  serious 
person  would  maintain  that  our  reading  books  are 
at  present  fitted.  But  good  poetry  is  formative ; 
it  has,  too,  the  precious  power  of  acting  by  itself 
and  in  a  way  managed  by  nature,  not  through  the 
instrumentality  of  that  somewhat  terrible  character, 
the  scientific  educator.  I  believe  that  even  the 
rhythm  and  diction  of  good  poetry  are  capable  of 
exercising  some  formative  effect,  even  though 
the  sense  be  imperfectly  understood.  But,  of  course 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         233 

the  good  of  poetry  is  not  really  got  unless  the  sense 
of  the  words  is  known.  And  more  and  more  I  find 
it  learnt  and  known ;  more  and  more  it  will  be 
easy  to  refuse  to  let  the  recitation  count  for  anything 
unless  the  meaning  of  what  is  recited  is  thoroughly 
learnt  and  known.  It  will  be  observed  that  thus 
we  are  remedying  what  I  have  noticed  as  the  signal 
mental  defect  of  our  school  children — their  almost  f 
incredible  scantiness  of  vocabulary.  We  enlarge  { 
their  vocabulary,  and  with  their  vocabulary  their  I 
circle  of  ideas.  At  the  same  time  we  bring  them' 
under  the  formative  influence  of  really  good  litera- 
ture, really  good  poetry.  We  must  not,  of  course, 
be  so  rigid  as  to  exclude  all  poetry  but  the  very 
best.  Poetry  like  that  of  Scott  or  Mrs.  Hemans,  for 
instance,  is  no  doubt  of  texture  different  from  that 
of  the  best  poetry,  yet  it  has  excellent  qualities, 
and  qualities  to  which  our  school  children  are  very 
sensible  ;  we  may  be  glad  to  have  them  learning  it. 
Still  an  effort  should  be  made,  for  this  one  exercise, 
to  fix  the  standard  high.  Gray's  Elegy  and  extracts 
from  Shakespeare  should  be  chosen  in  preference  to 
the  poetry  of  Scott  and  Mrs.  Hemans,  and  very 
much  of  the  poetry  in  our  present  school  reading 
books  should  be  entirely  rejected. 

General  Report,  1878. 

Education  of  the  Middle  Classes  for  the  Sake 
of  the  Working  Class 

I  HAVE  to  make  an  address  to  the  Working  Men's 
College  at  Ipswich,  the  largest  College  of  the  kind 


234          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

in  England.  The  inducement  to  me  was  that  I 
might  try  and  interest  them  in  founding  a  system 
of  public  education  for  the  middle  classes,  on  the 
%  ground  that  the  working  class  suffered  by  not  having 
a  more  civilised  middle  class  to  rise  into,  if  they  do 
rise  ;  this  is  in  my  opinion  a  very  true  plea,  but  you 
may  imagine  the  difficulty  and  delicacy  of  urging 
it  in  a  public  meeting  in  a  provincial  town,  where 
half  the  audience  will  be  middle  class.  However, 
the  speech  is  meant  for  the  working  men,  the  hands 
in  the  great  factories  for  agricultural  implements 
there.  They  are  said  to  be  an  intelligent  set,  and 
I  do  not  despair  of  making  them  follow  me. 

1879.  "  Letters,"  ii.  p.  151. 


The  Influence  of  Poetry 

I  FIND  that  of  the  specific  subjects  English  litera- 
ture, as  it  is  too  ambitiously  called — in  plain  truth 
the  learning  by  heart  and  reciting  of  a  hundred 
lines  or  two  of  standard  English  poetry — continues 
to  be  by  far  the  most  popular.  I  rejoice  to  find  it 
so ;  there  is  no  fact  coming  under  my  observation 
in  the  working  of  our  elementary  schools  which 
gives  me  so  much  satisfaction.  The  acquisition  of 
good  poetry  is  a  discipline  which  works  deeper  than 
any  other  discipline  in  the  range  of  work  of  our 
schools  ;  more  than  any  other,  too,  it  works  of  itself, 
is  independent  of  the  school  teacher,  and  cannot  be 
spoiled  by  pedantry  and  injudiciousness  on  his  part. 
Some  people  regard  this  my  high  estimate  of  the 


THOUGHTS  ON   EDUCATION         235 

value  of  poetry  in  education  with  suspicion  and 
displeasure.  Perhaps  they  may  accept  the  testi- 
mony of  Wordsworth  with  less  suspicion  than  mine. 
Wordsworth  says,  "To  be  incapable  of  a  feeling  of 
poetry  in  my  sense  of  the  word,  is  to  be  without 
love  of  human  nature  and  reverence  for  God."  And 
it  is  only  through  acquaintance  with  poetry,  and 
with  good  poetry,  that  this  "  feeling  of  poetry  "  can 
be  given. 

Good  poetry  does  undoubtedly  tend  to  form  the 
soul  and  character ;  it  tends  to  beget  a  love  of 
beauty  and  of  truth  in  alliance  together,  it  suggests, 
however  indirectly,  high  and  noble  principles  of 
action,  and  it  inspires  the  emotion  so  helpful  in 
making  principles  operative.  Hence  its  extreme 
importance  to  all  of  us ;  but  in  our  elementary 
schools  its  importance  seems  to  me  to  be  at  present 
quite  extraordinary. 

General  Report,  1880. 


Influences  Affecting  Voluntary  Schools 

ONE  might  expect  that  the  class  of  people  for 
whose  children  these  schools  are  required  would 
prefer  public  rate-supported  schools  to  others,  as 
being  schools  which  they  support  (so  far  as  they  pay 
rates)  themselves,  and  which  in  no  way  make  them 
dependent  on  private  charity.  One  might  expect 
that  teachers  would  prefer  schools  where  they  both 
get,  in  general,  higher  salaries  than  in  voluntary 
schools,  and  are  free,  besides,  from  the  control  of 
private  and  clerical  managers.  In  a  report  written 


236         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

many  years  ago  by  me  after  seeing  the  elementary 
schools  abroad,  I  said  that  for  parents  and  teachers 
to  prefer  really  public  schools  seemed  the  natural 
thing,  and  that  they  would  with  time  come  in  this 
country  also  to  prefer  them.  And  so,  in  fact,  per- 
haps, it  is  the  natural  thing,  and  they  will  in  the  end 
come  to  prefer  it. 

Yet  experience  shows  that  where  funds  are  forth- 
coming for  the  support  of  voluntary  schools,  they 
at  present  hold  their  own  and  are  sought  after. 
Parents  send  their  children  to  them,  although  the 
fees  are  higher  than  at  other  schools  within  reach. 
Teachers  continue  in  them  at  lower  salaries  than 
they  could  earn  in  board  schools. 

That  this  should  be  so,  proves  the  moderation  of 
the  English  character,  proves  the  absence,  in  general, 
of  arbitrariness  and  meddlesomeness  on  the  part  of 
managers,  the  absence  of  irritable  vanity  on  the 
part  of  parents  and  teachers.  A  strong  element  of 
irritable  vanity  on  the  one  side,  or  of  arbitrariness 
on  the  other,  would  be  fatal  to  voluntary  schools. 
But  the  moderation,  the  English  moderation,  on 
both  sides,  keeps  those  elements  of  ruin  out ;  and 
so  long  as  they  are  kept  out,  and  the  voluntary 
schools  prosper,  these  schools  serve,  I  think,  several 
important  ends,  of  which  I  shall  here  mention  two 
only. 

One  is  economic,  the  other  moral.  It  has  so 
often  been  said  that  people  value  more  highly,  and 
use  more  respectfully,  what  they  pay  a  price  for, 
that  one  is  almost  ashamed  to  repeat  it.  But  the 
advocates  of  free  education  seem  never  to  have 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         237 

heard  or  at  least  considered  it.     In  a  country  where 
there  is  public  support  for  the  education  of  one 
class  only,  as  in  our  country,  to  defend  a  very  high 
expenditure  upon  it  by  the  very  high  expenditure  on 
publicly  supported  education  abroad,  where  it  is  for 
all  classes,  is,  of  course,  a  mere  blunder.     To  have 
an  expensive  public  education  for  one  class  of  the 
community  only,  and  to  make  it  gratuitous,  is  practi- 
cally to  fall  in  with  the  ideas  of  Jack  Cade.     But 
suppose  that  public  schools  are  provided  for  the 
whole  community,  and  that  schooling  without  fee  is 
then  defended  on  the  plea  that  parents  have  suffi- 
ciently paid  for  their  children's  schooling  by  paying 
rates  and  taxes.     Even  then,  unless  the  payment  is 
so  made  by  a  direct  school  tax  that  both  in  form  and 
in  amount  it  comes  to  much  the  same  thing  as  the 
payment  of  a  school  fee,  I  doubt  whether  its  effect 
upon  the  payers  is  so  wholesome  as  the  payment 
of  a  school  fee.     In  our  board  schools  fees  are  paid, 
but  they  are  in  general  much  lower  than  in  volun- 
tary schools,  and  there  is  pressure  constantly  being 
applied  to  make  them  lower  still,  or  even  to  get  rid 
of    them    altogether.     A    certain    number    of    free 
schools  and  a  certain  number  of  free  places  in  paying 
schools  there  ought  to  be  ;    but  I  hope  that  school 
boards  will  not  discontinue  the  school  fee  generally, 
and  that  where  it  is  now  too  low,  and  less  than 
parents  can  fairly  pay,  they  will  raise  it.     The  high 
character  of  voluntary  schools  in  Westminster  is 
certainly  very  much  due  to  the  value  set  upon  the 
schooling  for  which  what  is  felt  to  be  a  real  and 
adequate  price  has  to  be  paid.    I  do  not  say  that 


238         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

the  price  paid  in  board  schools  ought  to  be  so  high 
as  in  those  voluntary  schools,  it  ought  not ;  but  it 
ought  to  be  as  high  relatively  to  the  means  of  the 
parents  to  pay,  and  I  do  not  think  it  is  at  present. 
I  visited  the  other  day  a  voluntary  school  with  a 
6d.  fee,  where  id.  had  just  been  added  to  this 
for  school  stationery,  which  the  boys  had  hitherto 
provided  as  they  could.  They  got  it  much  better 
for  the  extra  id.,  they  felt  themselves  to  be  paying 
for  it,  and  they  were  greatly  pleased  with  it.  I 
could  not  help  reflecting  how  wholesome  this  kind 
of  pleasure  is,  and  how  it  is  quite  lost  in  board 
schools  where  the  gratuitous  distribution  of  stationery 
is  the  rule.  And  as  with  stationery,  so  with  the 
rest  of  what  is  furnished  at  school. 

Another  source  of  strength  to  voluntary  schools 
is  the  natural  and  intimate  connexion  between  the 
schools  and  their  managers,  and  the  influences 
thence  arising.  The  more  experience  I  get,  the 
higher  I  value  this  source  of  strength.  In  a  town 
like  London  especially,  many  a  man  must  feel  that 
while  others,  as  Solomon  says,  "  have  many  friends," 
he  himself  "  is  separated  from  his  neighbour  "  ;  and 
the  feeling  that  in  their  manager  they  have  really  a 
"  neighbour  "  who  knows  them,  and  to  the  best  of 
his  power  will  help  them,  is  an  influence  which 
tends  to  keep  both  teacher  and  scholar  faithful  to 
voluntary  schools.  It  is  an  influence  of  a  very 
valuable  kind.  Of  course  it  is  not  exercised  in  every 
case  where  it  might  be,  but,  on  the  whole,  it  is 
exercised  to  an  extent  and  with  a  power  beyond 
one's  expectations.  Teachers  will  remain  at  salaries 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         239 

below  the  board  school  rate,  and  scholars  will  pay 
fees  above  the  common  board  school  fee,  while  they 
feel  this  influence.  I  have  schools  in  my  district 
where  every  teacher  and  every  child  in  the  school 
feel  that  in  their  manager  they  have  a  friend,  and 
this  is  no  little  thing  in  London. 

General  Report,  1882. 

Cramming  and  the  Creative  Spirit 

FRESH  matters  of  instruction  are  continually  being 
added  to  our  school  programmes  ;  but  it  is  well  to 
remember  that  the  recipient  for  this  instruction,  the 
child,  remains  as  to  age,  capacity,  and  school  time, 
what  he  was  before,  and  that  his  age,  capacity,  and 
school  time,  must  in  the  end  govern  our  proceedings. 
Undoubtedly  there  is  danger  at  present  of  his  being 
over-urged  and  over-worked,  of  his  being  taught  too 
many  things,  and  not  the  best  things  for  him.  I 
am  very  glad  that  the  New  Code  confines  the  grant 
for  specific  subjects  to  the  standards  above  the 
fourth.  This  is  a  defence  against  the  danger  of 
teaching  too  much,  and  for  children  in  the  Fourth 
Standard  the  specific  subjects  are  in  general  too 
much.  Teachers  know  very  well,  however,  that  the 
strain  upon  a  learner's  mind  arises  not  only  from 
the  quantity  of  what  is  put  into  it,  but  also  from 
the  quality  and  character  ;  and  that  the  strain  may 
be  relieved  not  only  by  diminishing  the  quantity, 
but  also  by  altering  that  quality  and  character. 
This  is  an  extremely  important  matter. 

Attention  has  lately  been  called  to  the  break- 


240          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

down,  in  India,  of  a  number  of  young  men  who  had 
won  their  appointments  after  severe  study  and  severe 
examination.  No  doubt  the  quantity  of  mental 
exertion  required  for  examinations  is  often  excessive, 
but  the  strain  is  much  the  more  severe,  because  the 
quality  and  character  of  mental  exertion  required 
are  so  often  injudicious.  The  mind  is  less  strained 
the  more  it  reacts  on  what  it  deals  with,  and  has 
a  native  play  of  its  own,  and  is  creative.  It  is  more 
strained  the  more  it  has  to  receive  a  number  of 
"  knowledges  "  passively,  and  to  store  them  up  to  be 
reproduced  in  an  examination.  But  to  acquire  a 
number  of  "  knowledges,"  store  them,  and  reproduce 
them,  was  what  in  general  those  candidates  for 
Indian  employment  had  had  to  do.  By  their  suc- 
cess in  doing  this  they  were  tested,  and  the  examina- 
tion turned  on  it.  In  old  days  examinations 
mainly  turned  upon  Latin  and  Greek  composition. 
Composition  in  the  dead  languages  is  now  wholly 
out  of  favour,  and  I  by  no  means  say  that  it  is  a 
sufficient  test  for  candidates  for  Indian  employment. 
But  I  will  say  that  the  character  and  quality  of 
mental  exertion  required  for  it  is  more  healthy 
than  the  character  and  quality  of  exertion  required 
for  receiving  and  storing  a  number  of  "  knowledges." 
And  the  candidate  whom  the  former  test  brings  to 
the  front  is  likely  to  be  a  healthier  man  in  body 
and  mind,  both  then  and  afterwards,  than  the  man 
whom  the  latter  test  brings  to  the  front. 

Of  such  high  importance,  in  relieving  the  strain 
of  mental  effort,  is  the  sense  of  pleasurable  activity 
and  of  creation.  Of  course  a  great  deal  of  the  work 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         241 

in  elementary  schools  must  necessarily  be  of  a  me- 
chanical kind.  But  whatever  introduces  any  sort  of 
creative  activity  to  relieve  the  passive  reception  of 
knowledge  is  valuable.  The  kindergarten  exercises 
are  useful  for  this  reason,  the  management  of  tools 
is  useful,  drawing  is  useful,  singing  is  useful.  The 
poetry  exercise,  if  properly  managed,  is  of  very  great 
use,  and  this  is  why  I  have  always  been  in  favour 
of  it  and  am  glad  to  see  further  development  given 
to  it  by  the  New  Code.  People  talk  contemptuously 
of  "  learning  lines  by  heart  "  ;  but  if  a  child  is 
brought,  as  he  easily  can  be  brought,  to  throw  him- 
self into  a  piece  of  poetry,  an  exercise  of  creative 
activity  has  been  set  up  in  him  quite  different 
from  the  effort  of  learning  a  list  of  words  to  spell, 
or  a  list  of  flesh-making  and  heat-giving  foods, 
or  a  list  of  capes  and  bays,  or  a  list  of  reigns  and 
battles,  and  capable  of  greatly  relieving  the  strain 
from  learning  these  and  of  affording  a  lively  pleasure. 
It  is  true,  language,  and  geography,  and  history, 
and  the  elements  of  natural  science  are  all  capable 
of  being  taught  in  a  less  mechanical  and  more  in- 
teresting manner  than  that  in  which  they  are  com- 
monly taught  now  ;  they  may  be  so  taught  as  to  call 
forth  pleasurable  activity  in  the  pupil.  But  those 
disciplines  are  especially  valuable  which  call  this 
activity  forth  most  surely  and  directly. 

General  Report,  1882. 


242          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

The  Governing  Aim  of  Education 

As  to  "  knowledges,"  a  teacher  should,  in  my 
opinion,  aim  at  having  every  child  who  passes 
through  an  elementary  school  not  only  taught 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  but  furnished 
in  addition  with  some  knowledge  of  the  English 
language  and  of  grammar,  and  also  with  some  in- 
struction in  natural  science,  geography,  and  history. 
A  select  class  capable  of  being  carried  further 
with  profit  should  be  formed  for  specific  subjects. 
But  governing  the  teacher's  whole  design  of  instruc- 
tion in  these  knowledges  should  be  the  aim  of  calling 
forth,  by  some  means  or  other,  in  every  pupil  a  sense 
of  pleasurable  activity  and  of  creation ;  he  should 
resist  being  made  a  mere  ladder  with  "  information." 
There  is  an  admirable  sermon  of  Butler's, 
preached  in  1745  on  behalf  of  the  charity  schools  of 
London  and  Westminster,  which  every  one  concerned 
with  popular  education  ought  to  read.*  It  is  far 
too  little  known  ;  the  Christian  Knowledge  Society 
would  do  well  to  reprint  it,  as  they  have  reprinted 
Bishop  Wilson's  manual.  Every  point  is  taken  in  it 
which  most  needs  to  be  taken  :  the  change  in  the 
world  which  makes  "  knowledges "  of  universal 

*  A  sermon  preached  in  the  Parish  Church  of  Christchurch, 
London,  on  Thursday,  May  the  gth,  1745,  being  the  time  of  the 
Yearly  Meeting  of  the  children  educated  in  the  Charity  schools, 
in  and  about  the  Cities  of  London  and  Westminster.  By  the 
Right  Rev.  Joseph,  Lord  Bishop  of  Bristol.  ...  To  which  is 
annexed  an  account  of  The  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge.  Printed  by  J.  Oliver,  printer  to  the  said  Society, 
in  Bartholomew  Close  ;  and  sold  by  B.  Dod,  bookseller,  at  the 
Bible  and  Key  in  Ave-Maria  Lane.  MDCCXLV. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         243 

necessity  now  which  were  not  so  formerly,  the  hard- 
ship of  exclusion  from  them,  the  absurdity  and 
selfishness  of  those  who  are  "  so  extremely  appre- 
hensive of  the  danger  that  poor  persons  will  make  a 
perverse  use  of  even  the  least  advantage,  whilst 
they  do  not  appear  at  all  apprehensive  of  the  like 
danger  for  themselves  or  their  own  children,  in 
respect  of  riches  or  power,  how  much  soever  ;  though 
the  danger  of  perverting  these  advantages  is  surely  as 
great,  and  the  perversion  itself  of  much  greater  and 
worse  consequence."  But  there  is,  perhaps,  no 
sentence  in  the  sermon  which  more  deserves  to  be 
pondered  by  us  than  this  :  "Of  education,"  says 
Butler,  "  information  itself  is  really  the  least  part." 

Reports  on  Elementary  Schools,  1880. 


The  Aim  of  Education 

WHAT  a  man  seeks  through  his  education  is  to  get 
to  know  himself  and  the  world  ;  next,  that  for  this 
knowledge  it  is  before  all  things  necessary  that  he 
acquaint  himself  with  the  best  which  has  been 
thought  and  said  in  the  world ;  finally,  that  of 
this  best  the  classics  of  Greece  and  Rome  form  a 
very  chief  portion,  and  the  portion  most  entirely 
satisfactory.  With  these  conclusions  lodged  safe 
in  one's  mind,  one  is  staunch  on  the  side  of  the 
humanities. 

1882.  "  Irish  Essays,"  p.  184  (A  Speech  at  Eton). 


244         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Formative  Influence  of  Masterpieces 

THE  best,  in  literature,  has  the  quality  of  being 
in  itself  formative ;  of  bringing  out  its  own  signifi- 
cance as  we  read  it.  It  is  better  to  read  a  master- 
piece much,  even  if  one  does  that  only,  than  to 
read  it  a  little,  and  to  be  told  a  great  deal  about  its 
significance,  and  about  the  development  and  sense 
of  the  world  from  which  it  issues.  Sometimes  what 
one  is  told  about  the  significance  of  a  work,  and  about 
the  development  of  a  world,  is  extremely  question- 
able. At  any  rate,  a  schoolboy,  who,  as  they  did  in 
the  times  of  ignorance  at  Eton,  read  his  Homer  and 
Horace  through,  and  then  read  them  through  again, 
and  so  went  on  until  he  knew  them  by  heart,  is  not, 
in  my  opinion,  so  very  much  to  be  pitied. 

"  Irish  Essays,"  p.  184. 


Eutrapelia 

As  Goethe  says  of  life  :  Strike  into  it  anywhere,  lay 
hold  of  it  anywhere,  it  is  always  powerful  and 
interesting — so  one  may  almost  say  of  classical 
literature.  Strike  into  it  where  you  like,  lay  hold 
of  it  where  you  like,  you  can  nearly  always  find  a 
thread  which  will  lead  you,  if  you  follow  it,  to  large 
and  instructive  results.  Let  us  follow  to-night  a 
single  Greek  word  in  this  fashion,  and  try  to  com- 
pensate ourselves,  however  imperfectly,  for  having 
to  divert  our  thoughts,  just  for  one  evening's  lecture, 
from  the  diameter  of  the  sun  and  moon. 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         245 

The  word  I  will  take  is  the  word  eutrapelos, 
eutrapelia.  Let  us  consider  it  first  as  it  occurs  in 
the  famous  Funeral  Oration  put  by  Thucydides 
into  the  mouth  of  Pericles.  The  word  stands  there 
for  one  of  the  chief  of  those  qualities  which  have 
made  Athens,  says  Pericles,  "  the  school  of  Greece ;  " 
for  a  quality  by  which  Athens  is  eminently  repre- 
sentative of  what  is  called  Hellenism  :  the  quality 
of  flexibility.  "  A  happy  and  gracious  flexibility," 
Pericles  calls  this  quality  of  the  Athenians ;  and  it 
is  no  doubt  a  charming  gift.  Lucidity  of  thought, 
clearness  and  propriety  of  language,  freedom  from 
prejudice  and  freedom  from  stiffness,  openness  of 
mind,  amiability  of  manners,  all  these  seem  to  go 
along  with  a  certain  happy  flexibility  of  nature,  and 
to  depend  upon  it.  Nor  does  this  suppleness  and 
flexibility  of  nature  at  all  necessarily  imply,  as  we 
English  are  apt  to  suppose,  a  relaxed  moral  fibre  and 
weakness.  In  the  Athenian  of  the  best  time  it  did 
not.  "  In  the  Athenians,"  says  Professor  Curtius, 
"  the  sense  of  energy  abhorred  every  kind  of  waste 
of  time,  their  sense  of  measure  abhorred  bombast  and 
redundancy,  and  their  clear  intelligence  everything 
partaking  of  obscurity  or  vagueness ;  it  was  their 
habit  in  all  things  to  advance  directly  and  resolutely 
to  the  goal.  Their  dialect  is  characterised  by 
a  superior  seriousness,  manliness,  and  vigour  of 
language." 

There  is  no  sign  of  relaxation  of  moral  fibre  here  ; 
and  yet  at  the  same  time,  the  Athenians  were 
eminent  for  a  happy  and  gracious  flexibility.  That 
quality,  as  we  all  know,  is  not  a  characteristic  quality 


246         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

of  the  Germanic  nations,  to  which  we  ourselves 
belong.  Men  are  educable,  and  when  we  read  of 
the  abhorrence  of  the  Attic  mind  for  redundancy 
and  obscurity  of  expression,  its  love  for  direct  and 
telling  speech,  and  then  think  of  modern  German, 
we  may  say  with  satisfaction  that  the  circumstances 
of  our  life  have  at  any  rate  educated  us  into  the  use 
of  straightforward  and  vigorous  forms  of  language. 
But  they  have  not  educated  us  into  flexibility.  All 
around  us  we  may  observe  proofs  of  it.  The  state 
of  Ireland  is  a  proof  of  it.  We  are  rivals  with  Russia 
in  Central  Asia,  and  at  this  moment  it  is  particularly 
interesting  to  note,  how  the  want  of  just  this  one 
Athenian  quality  of  flexibility  seems  to  tell  against 
us  in  our  Asiatic  rivalry  with  Russia.  "  Russia," 
observes  one  who  is  perhaps  the  first  of  living 
geographers — an  Austrian,  Herr  von  Hellwald — 
"  possesses  far  more  shrewdness,  flexibility,  and 
congeniality  than  England ;  qualities  adapted  to 
make  the  Asiatic  more  tractable."  And  again  : 
"  There  can  be  no  dispute  which  of  the  two,  England 
or  Russia,  is  the  more  civilised  nation.  But  it  is 
just  as  certain  that  the  more  civilised  English  under- 
stand but  indifferently  how  to  raise  their  Asiatic 
subjects  to  their  own  standard  of  civilisation  ; 
whilst  the  Russians  attain,  with  their  much  lower 
standard  of  civilisation,  far  greater  results  among 
the  Asiatic  tribes,  whom  they  know  how  to  assimilate 
in  the  most  remarkable  manner.  Of  course  they  can 
only  bring  them  to  the  same  level  which  they  have 
reached  themselves  ;  but  the  little  which  they  can 
and  do  communicate  to  them  counts  actually  for 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         247 

much  more  than  the  great  boons  which  the  English 
do  not  know  how  to  impart.  Under  the  auspices 
of  Russia  the  advance  in  civilisation  amongst  the 
Asiatics  is  indeed  slow  and  inconsiderable,  but 
steady,  and  suitable  to  their  natural  capacities  and 
the  disposition  of  their  race.  On  the  other  hand, 
they  remain  indifferent  to  British  civilisation,  which 
is  absolutely  incomprehensible  to  them." 

Our  word  "  flexibility  "  has  here  carried  us  a 
long  way,  carried  us  to  Turkestan  and  the  valleys 
of  the  Jaxartes  and  Oxus.  Let  us  get  back  to 
Greece,  at  any  rate.  The  generation  of  Pericles  is 
succeeded  by  the  generation  of  Plato  and  Aristotle. 
Still  the  charming  and  Athenian  quality  of  eutrapelia 
continues  to  be  held  in  high  esteem.  Only  the  word 
comes  to  stand  more  particularly  for  flexibility  and 
felicity  in  the  give-and-take  of  gay  and  light  social 
intercourse.  With  Aristotle  it  is  one  of  the  virtues  : 
the  virtue  of  him  who  in  this  pleasant  sort  of  inter- 
course, so  relished  by  the  Greeks,  manages  exactly 
to  hit  the  happy  and  right  mean ;  the  virtue 
opposed  to  buffoonery  on  the  one  side,  and  to  morose 
rusticity,  or  clownishness,  on  the  other.  It  is  hi 
especial  the  virtue  of  the  young,  and  is  akin  to  the 
grace  and  charm  of  youth.  When  old  men  try  to 
adapt  themselves  to  the  young,  says  Plato,  they 
betake  themselves,  in  imitation  of  the  young,  to 
eutrapelia  and  pleasantry. 

Four  hundred  years  pass,  and  we  come  to  the 
date  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  The  word 
eutrapelia  rises  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  of  that 
Epistle.  It  rises  to  St.  Paul's  mind,  and  he  utters  it ; 


248         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

but  in  how  different  a  sense  from  the  praising  and 
admiring  sense  in  which  we  have  seen  the  word 
used  by  Thucydides  and  Aristotle !  Eutrapelia, 
which  once  stood  for  that  eminently  Athenian  and 
Hellenic  virtue  of  happy  and  gracious  flexibility, 
now  conveys  this  favourable  sense  no  longer,  but 
is  ranked,  with  filthiness  and  foolish  talking,  among 
things  which  are  not  convenient.  Like  these,  it 
is  not  to  be  even  so  much  as  once  named  among  the 
followers  of  God  T  "  neither  filthiness,  not  foolish 
talking,  nor  jesting  (eutrapelia},  which  are  not 
convenient." 

This  is  an  extraordinary  change,  you  will  say. 
But  now,  as  we  have  descended  four  hundred  years 
from  Aristotle  to  St.  Paul,  let  us  ascend,  not  four 
hundred,  not  quite  even  one  hundred  years,  from 
Thucydides  to  Pindar.  The  religious  Theban  poet, 
we  shall  see  (and  the  thing  is  surely  very  remarkable) , 
speaks  of  the  quality  of  eutrapelia  in  the  same  dis- 
approving and  austere  way  as  the  writer  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  The  young  and  noble 
Jason  appears  at  lolcos,  and  being  questioned  about 
himself  by  Pelias,  he  answers  that  he  has  been 
trained  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  old 
and  just  Centaur,  Chiron.  "  From  his  cave  I  come, 
from  Chariclo  and  Philyra,  his  stainless  daughters, 
who  there  nursed  me.  Lo,  these  twenty  years  am 
I  with  them,  and  there  hath  been  found  in  me 
neither  deed  nor  word  that  is  not  convenient ;  and 
now,  behold,  I  am  come  home,  that  I  may  recover 
my  father's  kingdom."  The  adjective  eutrapelos, 
as  it  is  here  used  in  connexion  with  its  two  nouns, 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         249 

means  exactly  a  word  or  deed,  in  Biblical  phrase,  of 
vain  lightness,  a  word  or  deed  such  as  is  not  convenient. 
There  you  have  the  history  of  the  varying  use 
of  the  words  eutrapelos,  eutmpelia.  And  now  see 
how  this  varying  use  gives  us  a  clue  to  the  order  and 
sense,  as  we  say,  of  all  that  Greek  world,  so  nearly 
and  wonderfully  connected  with  us,  so  profoundly 
interesting  for  us,  so  full  of  precious  lessons. 

"  Irish  Essays  "  (A  Speech  at  Eton),  p.  187. 


Regular  Reading 

I  AM  glad  to  find  that  in  the  past  year  I  have  at  ! 
least  accomplished  more  than  usual  in  the  way  of  f 
reading  the  books  which  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  - 
I  had  put  down  to  be  read.     I  always  do  this,  and  ( 
I  do  not  expect  to  read  all  I  put  down,  but  some-  I 
times  I  fall  much  too  short  of  what  I  proposed, 
and  this  year  things  have  been  a  good  deal  better. 
The  importance  of  reading,  not  slight  stuff  to  get 
through  the  time,  but  the  best  that  has  been  written, 
forces  itself  upon  me  more  and  more  every  year  I 
live  ;  it  is  living  in  good  company,  the  best  company, 
and  people  are  generally  quite  keen  enough,  or  too 
keen,  about  doing  that,  yet  they  will  not  do  it  in 
the  simplest  and  most  innocent  manner  by  reading,  i 
However,  if  I  live  to  be  eighty,  I  shall  probably  be  \ 
the  only  person  left  in  England  who  reads  anything  | 
but  newspapers  and  scientific  publications. 

1882.  "  Letters,"  ii.  p.  196. 


250          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

The  Reading  of  Books  Hindered  by 
Newspapers 

THE  influence  of  poetry  and  literature  appears  at 
this  moment  diminishing  rather  than  increasing. 
The  newspapers  have  a  good  deal  to  do  with  this. 
The  Times,  which  has  much  improved  again,  is  a 
world,  and  people  who  read  it  daily  hardly  feel  the 
necessity  for  reading  a  book  ;  yet  reading  a  book — 
a  good  book — is  a  discipline  such  as  no  reading  of 
even  good  newspapers  can  ever  give.  But  literature 
has  in  itself  such  powers  of  attraction  that  I  am  not 
over  anxious  about  it. 

1884.  "  Letters,"  ii.  p.  268. 


Light  also  a  Moral  Cause 

INFELICITOUS  the  general  direction  of  our  affairs 
may  be ;  but  the  individual  Englishman,  whenever 
and  wherever  called  upon  to  do  his  duty,  does  it 
almost  invariably  with  the  old  energy,  courage, 
virtue.  And  this  is  what  we  gain  by  having  had, 
as  a  people,  in  the  ground  of  our  being,  a  firm  faith 
in  conduct ;  by  having  believed,  more  steadfastly 
and  fervently  than  most,  this  great  law  that  moral 
causes  govern  the  standing  and  the  falling  of  men 
and  nations.  The  law  gradually  widens,  indeed, 
so  as  to  include  light  as  well  as  honesty  and  energy  ; 
to  make  light,  also,  a  moral  cause.  Unless  we  are 
transformed  we  cannot  finally  stand,  and  without 
more  light  we  cannot  be  transformed.  But  in  the 
trying  hours  through  which  before  our  transformation 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         251 

we  have  to  pass,  it  may  well  console  us  to  rest  our 
thoughts  upon  our  life's  law  even  as  we  have  hitherto 
known  it,  and  upon  all  which  even  in  our  present 
imperfect  acceptation  of  it  it  has  done  for  us. 

1885.  "  Discourses  in  America,"  pp.  x-xi. 


The  Things  of  the  Mind  as  a  Political  Force 

"  WHATSOEVER  things  are  true,  whatsoever  things 
are  elevated,  whatsoever  things  are  just,  whatsoever 
things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are  amiable, 
whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report ;  if  there  be 
any  virtue,  and  if  there  be  any  praise ;  have  these 
in  your  mind,  let  your  thoughts  run  upon  these."  * 
This  is  what  both  Plato  and  the  prophets  mean  by 
loving  righteousness,  and  making  one's  study  in 
the  law  of  the  Eternal. 

Now  the  matters  just  enumerated  do  not  come 
much  into  the  heads  of  most  of  us,  I  suppose,  when 
we  are  thinking  of  politics.  But  the  philosophers 
and  prophets  maintain  that  these  matters,  and  not 
those  of  which  the  heads  of  politicians  are  full,  do 
really  govern  politics  and  save  or  destroy  States. 
They  save  or  destroy  them  by  a  silent,  inexorable 
fatality ;  while  the  politicians  are  making  believe, 
plausibly  and  noisily,  with  their  American  institu- 
tions, British  Constitution  and  civilising  mission  of 
France.  And  because  these  matters  are  what  do 
really  govern  politics  and  save  or  destroy  States, 
Socrates  maintained  that  in  his  time  he  and  a  few 
philosophers,  who  alone  kept  insisting  on  the  good 

*  Philippians  iv.  8. 


252         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

of  righteousness,  and  the  unprofitableness  of  iniquity, 
were  the  only  real  politicians  then  living. 

I  say,  if  we  are  to  derive  comfort  from  the  doctrine 
of  the  remnant  (and  there  is  great  comfort  to  be 
derived  from  it),  we  must  also  hold  fast  to  the 
austere  but  true  doctrine  as  to  what  really  governs 
politics,  overrides  with  an  inexorable  fatality  the 
combinations  of  the  so-called  politicians,  and  saves 
or  destroys  States.  Having  in  mind  things  true, 
things  elevated,  things  just,  things  pure,  things 
amiable,  things  of  good  report ;  having  these  in 
mind,  studying  and  loving  these,  is  what  saves 
States. 

There  is  nothing  like  positive  instances  to  illus- 
trate general  propositions  of  this  kind  and  to  make 
them  believed.  I  hesitate  to  take  an  instance  from 
America.  Possibly  there  are  some  people  who  think 
that  already,  on  a  former  occasion,  I  have  said 
enough  about  America,  without  duly  seeing  and 
knowing  it.  So  I  will  take  my  instances  from 
England,  and  from  England's  neighbour  and 
old  co-mate  in  history,  France.  The  instance 
from  England  I  will  take  first.  I  will  take  it 
from  the  grave  topic  of  England's  relations  with 
Ireland.  I  am  not  going  to  reproach  either  England 
or  Ireland.  To  reproach  Ireland  here  would 
probably  be  indiscreet.  As  to  England,  anything 
I  may  have  to  say  against  my  own  country- 
men I  prefer  to  say  at  home ;  America  is  the  last 
place  where  I  should  care  to  say  it.  However,  I 
have  no  wish  or  intention  now  to  reproach  either  the 
English  or  the  Irish.  I  want  to  show  you  from 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         253 

England's  relations  with  Ireland  how  right  the  philo- 
sophers and  prophets  are.     Every  one  knows  that 
there  has  been  conquest  and  confiscation  in  Ireland. 
So  there  has  elsewhere.     Every  one  knows  that  the 
conquest  and  the  confiscation  have  been  attended 
with  cupidity,  oppression,  and  ill-usage.     So  they 
have   elsewhere.     "  Whatsoever   things   are   just " 
are  not  exactly  the  study,  so  far  as  I  know,  of 
conquerors  and  confiscators   anywhere ;    certainly 
they  were  not  the  study  of  the  English  conquerors 
of  Ireland.     A  failure  in  justice  is  a  source  of  danger 
to  States.     But  it  may  be  made  up  for  and  got  over  ; 
it  has  been  made  up  for  and  got  over  in  many 
communities.     England's    confiscations    in    Ireland 
are  a  thing  of  the  past ;    the  penal   laws   against 
Catholics  are  a  thing  of  the  past ;  much  has  been  done 
to  make  up  for  the  old  failure  in  justice  ;  Englishmen 
generally  think  that  it  has  been  pretty  well  made  up 
for,  and  that  Irishmen  ought  to  think  so  too.     And 
politicians  invent  Land  Acts  for  curing  the  last 
results  of  the  old  failure  in  justice,  for  insuring  the 
contentment  of  the  Irish  with  us,  and  for  consolidat- 
ing the  Union ;   and  are  surprised  and  plaintive  if 
it  is  not  consolidated.     But  now  see  how  much  more 
serious  people  are  the  philosophers  and  prophets 
than  the  politicians.     Whatsoever  things  are  amiable: — 
the  failure  in  amiability,  too,  is  a  source  of  danger 
and  insecurity  to  States,  as  well  as  the  failure  in 
justice.    And  we  English  are  not  amiable,  or  at  any 
rate,  what  in  this  case  comes  to  the  same  thing, 
do  not  appear  so.    The  politicians  never  thought  of 
that.     Quite   outside   their   combinations   lies   this 


254         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

hindrance,  tending  to  make  their  most  elaborate 
combinations  ineffectual.  Thus  the  joint  operation 
of  two  moral  causes  together — the  sort  of  causes 
which  politicians  do  not  seriously  regard — tells 
against  the  designs  of  the  politicians  with  what  seems 
to  be  an  almost  inexorable  fatality.  If  there  were 
not  the  failure  in  amiability,  perhaps  the  original 
failure  in  justice  might  by  this  time  have  been  got 
over  ;  if  there  had  not  been  the  failure  in  justice, 
perhaps  the  failure  in  amiability  might  not  have 
mattered  much.  The  two  failures  together  create 
a  difficulty  almost  insurmountable.  Public  men  in 
England  keep  saying  that  it  will  be  got  over.  I  hope 
that  it  will  be  got  over,  and  that  the  Union  between 
England  and  Ireland  may  become  as  solid  as  that 
between  England  and  Scotland.  But  it  will  not 
become  solid  by  means  of  the  contrivances  of  the 
mere  politician,  or  without  the  intervention  of  moral 
causes  of  concord  to  heal  the  mischief  wrought  by 
moral  causes  of  division.  Everything,  in  this  case, 
depends  upon  the  "  remnant,"  its  numbers,  and  its 
powers  of  action. 

"  Discourses  in  America,"  pp.  30-37. 

The  Love  of  France 

To  France  I  have  always  felt  myself  powerfully 
drawn.  People  in  England  often  accuse  me  of  liking 
France  and  things  French  far  too  well.  At  all 
events  I  have  paid  special  regard  to  them,  and  am 
always  glad  to  confess  how  much  I  owe  to  them. 
M.  Sainte-Beuve  wrote  to  me  in  the  last  years  of 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         255 

his  life  :  "  You  have  passed  through  our  life  and 
literature  by  a  deep  inner  line,  which  confers 
initiation,  and  which  you  will  never  lose."  Vous 
avez  traversj  noire  vie  et  notre  literature  par  une  ligne 
interieure,  profonde,  quifait  les  initite:  et  que  vous  ne 
perdrez  jamais.  I  wish  I  could  think  that  this 
friendly  testimony  of  that  accomplished  and  charm- 
ing man,  one  of  my  chief  benefactors,  were  fully 
deserved.  But  I  have  pride  and  pleasure  in  quoting 
it ;  and  I  quote  it  to  bear  me  out  in  saying,  that 
whatever  opinion  I  may  express  about  France,  I 
have  at  least  been  a  not  inattentive  observer  of  that 
great  country,  and  anything  but  a  hostile  one. 

"  Discourses  in  America,"  pp.  38-39. 

The  Rivalry  of  Literature  and  Science  in 
Education 

Now  education,  many  people  go  on  to  say,  is  still 
mainly  governed  by  the  ideas  of  men  like  Plato, 
who  lived  when  the  warrior  caste  and  the  priestly 
or  philosophical  class  were  alone  in  honour,  and  the 
really  useful  part  of  the  community  were  slaves. 
It  is  an  education  fitted  for  persons  of  leisure  in  such 
a  community.  This  education  passed  from  Greece 
and  Rome  to  the  feudal  communities  of  Europe, 
where  also  the  warrior  caste  and  the  priestly  caste 
were  alone  held  in  honour,  and  where  the  really 
useful  and  working  part  of  the  community,  though 
not  nominally  slaves  as  in  the  pagan  world,  were 
practically  not  much  better  off  than  slaves,  and  not 
more  seriously  regarded.  And  how  absurd  it  is, 


256         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

people  end  by  saying,  to  inflict  this  education  upon 
an  industrious  modern  community,  where  very  few 
indeed  are  persons  of  leisure,  and  the  mass  to  be 
considered  has  not  leisure,  but  is  bound,  for  its  own 
great  good,  and  for  the  great  good  of  the  world  at 
large,  to  plain  labour  and  to  industrial  pursuits,  and 
the  education  in  question  tends  necessarily  to  make 
men  dissatisfied  with  these  pursuits  and  unfitted  for 
them! 

That  is  what  is  said.     So  far  I  must  defend 

Plato,  as  to  plead  that  his  .view  of  education  and 

studies  is  in  the  general,  as  it  seems  to  me,  sound 

enough,  and  fitted  for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 

I  men,  whatever  their  pursuits  may  be.     "  An  in- 

|  telligent  man,"  says  Plato,  "  will  prize  those  studies 

I  which  result  in  his  soul  getting  soberness,  righteous- 

i  ness,  and  wisdom,  and  will  less  value  the  others." 

I  cannot  consider  that  a  bad  description  of  the  aim 

of   education,   and   of   the   motives   which   should 

govern  us  in  the  choice  of  studies,  whether  we  are 

preparing  ourselves  for  a  hereditary  seat  in  the 

English  House  of  Lords  or  for  the  pork  trade  in 

Chicago. 

Still  I  admit  that  Plato's  world  was  not  ours, 
that  his  scorn  of  trade  and  handicraft  is  fantastic, 
that  he  had  no  conception  of  a  great  industrial 
community  such  as  that  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  such  a  community  must  and  will  shape  its 
education  to  suit  its  own  needs.  If  the  usual 
education  handed  down  to  it  from  the  past  does  not 
suit  it,  it  will  certainly  before  long  drop  this  and  try 
another.  The  usual  education  in  the  past  has  been 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         257 

mainly  literary.  The  question  is  whether  the 
studies  which  were  long  supposed  to  be  the  best  for 
all  of  us  are  practically  the  best  now;  whether 
others  are  not  better.  The  tyranny  of  the  past, 
many  think,  weighs  on  us  injuriously  in  the  pre- 
dominance given  to  letters  in  education.  The 
question  is  raised  whether,  to  meet  the  needs  of  our 
modern  life,  the  predominance  ought  not  now  to  pass 
from  letters  to  science  ;  and  naturally  the  question 
is  nowhere  raised  with  more  energy  than  here  in  the 
United  States.  The  design  of  abasing  what  is 
called  "mere  literary  instruction  and  education," 
and  of  exalting  what  is  called  "  sound,  extensive 
and  practical  scientific  knowledge,"  is,  in  this 
intensely  modern  world  of  the  United  States  even 
more  perhaps  than  in  Europe,  a  very  popular 
design,  and  makes  great  and  rapid  progress. 

I  am  going  to  ask  whether  the  present  movement 
for  ousting  letters  from  their  old  predominance  in 
education,  and  for  transferring  the  predominance  in 
education  to  the  natural  sciences,  whether  this  brisk 
and  flourishing  movement  ought  to  prevail,  and 
whether  it  is  likely  that  in  the  end  it  really  will 
prevail.  An  objection  may  be  raised  which  I  will 
anticipate.  My  own  studies  have  been  almost 
wholly  in  letters,  and  my  visits  to  the  field  of  the 
natural  sciences  have  been  very  slight  and  inadequate, 
although  those  sciences  have  always  strongly  moved 
my  curiosity.  A  man  of  letters,  it  will  perhaps  be 
said,  is  not  competent  to  discuss  the  comparative 
merits  of  letters  and  natural  science  as  means  of 
education.  To  this  objection  I  reply,  first  of  all, 

s 


258         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

that  his  incompetence,  if  he  attempts  the  discussion 
but  is  really  incompetent  for  it,  will  be  abundantly 
visible  ;  nobody  will  be  taken  in  ;  he  will  have 
plenty  of  sharp  observers  and  critics  to  save  mankind 
from  that  danger.  But  the  line  I  am  going  to  follow 
is,  as  you  will  soon  discover,  so  extremely  simple, 
that  perhaps  it  may  be  followed  without  failure  even 
by  one  who  for  a  more  ambitious  line  of  discussion 
would  be  quite  incompetent. 

Some  of  you  may  possibly  remember  a  phrase 
of  mine  which  has  been  the  object  of  a  good  deal  of 
comment ;  an  observation  to  the  effect  that  in  our 
culture,  the  aim  being  to  know  ourselves  and  the  world, 
we  have,  as  the  means  to  this  end,  to  know  the  best 
which  has  been  thought  and  said  in  the  world.  A  man 
of  science,  who  is  also  an  excellent  writer  and  the 
very  prince  of  debaters,  Professor  Huxley,  in  a 
discourse  at  the  opening  of  Sir  Josiah  Mason's 
college  at  Birmingham,  laying  hold  of  this  phrase, 
expanded  it  by  quoting  some  more  words  of  mine, 
which  are  these  :  "  The  civilised  world  is  to  be 
regarded  as  now  being,  for  intellectual  and  spiritual 
purposes,  one  great  confederation,  bound  to  a  joint 
action  and  working  to  a  common  result ;  and  whose 
members  have  for  their  proper  outfit  a  knowledge 
of  Greek,  Roman,  and  Eastern  antiquity,  and  of 
one  another.  Special  local  and  temporary  advan- 
tages being  put  out  of  account,  that  modern  nation 
will  in  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  sphere  make  most 
progress  which  most  thoroughly  carries  out  this 
programme." 

Now  on  my  phrase,   thus  enlarged,   Professor 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         259 

Huxley  remarks  that  when  I  speak  of  the  above- 
mentioned  knowledge  as  enabling  us  to  know  our- 
selves and  the  world,  I  assert  literature  to  contain 
the  materials  which  suffice  for  thus  making  us  know 
ourselves  and  the  world.  But  it  is  not  by  any  means 
clear,  says  he,  that  after  having  learnt  all  which 
ancient  and  modern  literatures  have  to  tell  us,  we 
have  laid  a  sufficiently  broad  and  deep  foundation 
for  that  criticism  of  life,  that  knowledge  of  ourselves 
and  the  world,  which  constitutes  culture.  On  the 
contrary,  Professor  Huxley  declares  that  he  finds 
himself  "  wholly  unable  to  admit  that  either  nations 
or  individuals  will  really  advance,  if  their  outfit 
draws  nothing  from  the  stores  of  physical  science. 
An  army  without  weapons  of  precision,  and  with  no 
particular  base  of  operations,  might  more  hopefully 
enter  upon  a  campaign  on  the  Rhine,  than  a  man 
devoid  of  a  knowledge  of  what  physical  science  has 
done  in  the  last  century,  upon  a  criticism  of  life." 

This  shows  how  needful  it  is  for  those  who  are 
to  discuss  any  matter  together,  to  have  a  common 
understanding  as  to  the  sense  of  the  terms  they 
employ — how  needful,  and  how  difficult.  What 
Professor  Huxley  says,  implies  just  the  reproach 
which  is  so  often  brought  against  the  study  of  belles 
lettres,  as  they  are  called  ;  that  the  study  is  an 
elegant  one,  but  slight  and  ineffectual ;  a  smattering 
of  Greek  and  Latin  and  other  ornamental  things, 
of  little  use  for  any  one  whose  object  is  to  get  at 
truth,  and  to  be  a  practical  man.  So,  too,  M.  Renan 
talks  of  the  "  superficial  humanism  "  of  a  school- 
course  which  treats  us  as  if  we  were  all  going  to  be 


260         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

poets,  writers,  preachers,  orators,  and  he  opposes 
this  humanism  to  positive  science,  or  the  critical 
search  after  truth.  And  there  is  always  a  tendency 
in  those  who  are  remonstrating  against  the  pre- 
dominance of  letters  in  education,  to  understand  by 
letters  belles  lettres,  and  by  belles  lettres  a  superficial 
humanism,  the  opposite  of  science  or  true  know- 
ledge. 

But  when  we  talk  of  knowing  Greek  and  Roman 
antiquity,  for  instance,  which  is  the  knowledge 
people  have  called  the  humanities,  I  for  my  part 
mean  a  knowledge  which  is  something  more  than  a 
superficial  humanity,  mainly  decorative.  "  I  call 
all  teaching  scientific,"  says  Wolf,  the  critic  of  Homer, 
"  which  is  systematically  laid  out  and  followed  up 
to  its  original  sources.  For  example  :  a  knowledge 
of  classical  antiquity  is  scientific  when  the  remains 
of  classical  antiquity  are  correctly  studied  in  the 
original  languages."  There  can  be  no  doubt  that 
Wolf  is  perfectly  right ;  that  all  learning  is  scientific 
which  is  systematically  laid  out  and  followed  up  to 
its  original  sources,  and  that  a  genuine  humanism  is 
scientific. 

When  I  speak  of  knowing  Greek  and  Roman 
antiquity,  therefore,  as  a  help  to  knowing  ourselves 
and  the  world,  I  mean  more  than  a  knowledge  of 
so  much  vocabulary,  so  much  grammar,  so  many 
portions  of  authors  in  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages. 
I  mean  knowing  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  their 
life  and  genius,  and  what  they  were  and  did  in  the 
world  ;  what  we  get  from  them,  and  what  is  its 
value.  That,  at  least,  is  the  ideal ;  and  when  we 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         261 

talk  of  endeavouring  to  know  Greek  and  Roman 
antiquity,  as  a  help  to  knowing  ourselves  and  the 
world,  we  mean  endeavouring  so  to  know  them  as  to 
satisfy  this  ideal,  however  much  we  may  still  fall 
short  of  it. 

The  same  also  as  to  knowing  our  own  and  other 
modern  nations,  with  the  like  aim  of  getting  to 
understand  ourselves  and  the  world.  To  know  the 
best  that  has  been  thought  and  said  by  the  modern 
nations,  is  to  know,  says  Professor  Huxley,  "  only  \ 
what  modern  literatures  have  to  tell  us  ;  it  is  the  j 
criticism  of  life  contained  in  modern  literature." 
And  yet,  "  the  distinctive  character  of  our  times," 
he  urges,  "  lies  in  the  vast  and  constantly  increasing 
part  which  is  played  by  natural  knowledge."  And 
how,  therefore,  can  a  man,  devoid  of  knowledge  of 
what  physical  science  has  done  in  the  last  century, 
enter  hopefully  upon  a  criticism  of  modern  life  ? 

Let  us,  I  say,  be  agreed  about  the  meaning  of 
the  terms  we  are  using.  I  talk  of  knowing  the 
best  which  has  been  thought  and  uttered  in  the 
world ;  Professor  Huxley  says  this  means  knowing 
literature.  Literature  is  a  large  word  ;  it  may  mean 
everything  written  with  letters  or  printed  in  a  book. 
Euclid's  Elements  and  Newton's  Principia  are  thus 
literature.  All  knowledge  that  reaches  us  through 
books  is  literature.  But  by  literature  Professor 
Huxley  means  belles  lettres.  He  means  to  make  me 
say,  that  knowing  the  best  which  has  been  thought 
and  said  by  the  modern  nations  is  knowing  their 
belles  lettres  and  no  more.  And  this  is  no  sufficient 
equipment,  he  argues,  for  a  criticism  of  modern  life. 


262          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

But  as  I  do  not  mean,  by  knowing  ancient  Rome, 
knowing  merely  more  or  less  of  Latin  belles  lettres, 
and  taking  no  account  of  Rome's  military  and 
political,  and  legal,  and  administrative  work  in  the 
world  ;  and  as,  by  knowing  ancient  Greece,  I  under- 
stand knowing  her  as  the  giver  of  Greek  art,  and  the 
guide  to  a  free  and  right  use  of  reason  and  to  scientific 
method,  and  the  founder  of  our  mathematics  and 
physics  and  astronomy  and  biology — I  understand 
knowing  her  as  all  this,  and  not  merely  knowing 
certain  Greek  poems,  and  histories,  and  treatises, 
and  speeches — so  as  to  the  knowledge  of  modern 
nations  also.  By  knowing  modern  nations,  I  mean 
not  merely  knowing  their  belles  lettres ,  but  knowing 
also  what  has  been  done  by  such  men  as  Copernicus, 
Galileo,  Newton,  Darwin. 

"  Discourses  in  America,"  pp.  76-92. 

Science  Teaching  and  Human  Nature 

MORE  than  this,  however,  is  demanded  by  the 
reformers.  It  is  proposed  to  make  the  training  in 
natural  science  the  main  part  of  education,  for  the 
great  majority  of  mankind  at  any  rate.  And  here, 
I  confess,  I  part  company  with  the  friends  of 
physical  science,  with  whom  up  to  this  point  I  have 
been  agreeing.  In  differing  from  them,  however, 
I  wish  to  proceed  with  the  utmost  caution  and  diffi- 
dence. The  smallness  of  my  own  acquaintance  with 
the  disciplines  of  natural  science  is  ever  before  my 
mind,  and  I  am  fearful  of  doing  these  disciplines 
an  injustice.  The  ability  and  pugnacity  of  the 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         263 

partisans  of  natural  science  makes  them  formidable 
persons  to  contradict.  The  tone  of  tentative 
enquiry,  which  befits  a  being  of  dim  faculties  and 
bounded  knowledge,  is  the  tone  I  would  wish  to 
take  and  not  to  depart  from.  At  present  it  seems 
to  me,  that  those  who  are  for  giving  to  natural 
knowledge,  as  they  call  it,  the  chief  place  in  the 
education  of  the  majority  of  mankind,  leave  one 
important  thing  out  of  their  account ;  the  constitu- 
tion of  human  nature.  But  I  put  this  forward  on  the 
strength  of  some  facts  not  at  all  recondite,  very  far 
from  it ;  facts  capable  of  being  stated  in  the  simplest 
possible  fashion,  and  to  which,  if  I  so  state  them, 
the  man  of  science,  will,  I  am  sure,  be  willing  to 
allow  their  due  weight. 

Deny  the  facts  altogether,  I  think,  he  hardly  can. 
He  can  hardly  deny,  that  when  we  set  ourselves  to 
enumerate  the  powers  which  go  to  the  building  up 
of  human  life,  and  say  that  they  are  the  power 
of  conduct,  the  power  of  intellect  and  knowledge, 
the  power  of  beauty,  and  the  power  of  social  life 
and  manners — he  can  hardly  deny  that  this  scheme, 
though  drawn  in  rough  and  plain  lines  enough,  and 
not  pretending  to  scientific  exactness,  does  yet  give 
a  fairly  true  representation  of  the  matter.  Human 
nature  is  built  up  by  these  powers  ;  we  have  the 
need  for  them  all.  When  we  have  rightly  met  and 
adjusted  the  claims  of  them  all,  we  shall  then  be  in 
a  fair  way  for  getting  soberness  and  righteousness, 
with  wisdom.  This  is  evident  enough,  and  the 
friends  of  physical  science  would  admit  it. 

"  Discourses  in  America,"  pp.  99-102. 


264         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

Mediaeval   Universities 

The  great  mediaeval  Universities  were  not  brought 
into  being,  we  may  be  sure,  by  the  zeal  for  giving  a 
jejune  and  contemptible  education.  Kings  have 
been  their  nursing  fathers,  and  queens  have  been 
their  nursing  mothers,  but  not  for  this.  The 
mediaeval  Universities  came  into  being,  because  the 
supposed  knowledge,  delivered  by  Scripture  and 
the  Church,  so  deeply  engaged  men's  hearts,  by  so 
simply,  easily,  and  powerfully  relating  itself  to  their 
desire  for  conduct,  their  desire  for  beauty.  All 
other  knowledge  was  dominated  by  this  supposed 
knowledge,  and  was  subordinated  to  it,  because  of 
the  surpassing  strength  of  the  hold  which  it  gained 
upon  the  affections  of  men,  by  allying  itself  pro- 
foundly with  their  sense  for  conduct,  their  sense  for 
beauty. 

"  Discourses  in  America,"  pp.  115-116. 

The  Middle  Ages,  Science  and  Letters 

THE  Middle  Ages  could  do  without  humane  letters, 
as  it  could  do  without  the  study  of  nature,  because 
its  supposed  knowledge  was  made  to  engage  its 
emotions  so  powerfully.  Grant  that  the  supposed 
knowledge  disappears,  its  power  of  being  made  to 
engage  the  emotions  will  of  course  disappear  along 
with  it — but  the  emotions  themselves,  and  their 
claim  to  be  engaged  and  satisfied,  will  remain.  Now 
if  we  find  by  experience  that  humane  letters  have  an 
undeniable  power  of  engaging  the  emotions,  the 
importance  of  humane  letters  in  a  man's  training 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         265 

becomes  not  less,  but  greater,  in  proportion  to  the 
success  of  modern  science  in  extirpating  what  it 
calls  "  mediaeval  thinking." 

"  Discourses  in  America,"  pp.  117-118. 


The  Final  Need  of  Letters  in  Education 

AND  the  more  that  men's  minds  are  cleared,  the  more 
that  the  results  of  science  are  frankly  accepted,  the 
more  that  poetry  and  eloquence  come  to  be  received 
and  studied  as  what  in  truth  they  really  are, — the 
criticism  of  life  by  gifted  men,  alive  and  active  with 
extraordinary  power  at  an  unusual  number  of  points; — 
so  much  the  more  will  the  value  of  humane  letters, 
and  of  art  also,  which  is  an  utterance  having  a  like 
kind  of  power  with  theirs,  be  felt  and  acknowledged, 
and  their  place  in  education  be  secured. 

Let  us  therefore,  all  of  us,  avoid  indeed  as  much 
as  possible  any  invidious  comparison  between  the 
merits  of  humane  letters,  as  means  of  education, 
and  the  merits  of  the  natural  sciences.  But  when 
some  President  of  a  section  for  Mechanical  Science 
insists  on  making  the  comparison,  and  tells  us  that 
"  he  who  in  his  training  has  substituted  literature 
and  history  for  natural  science  has  chosen  the  less 
useful  alternative,"  let  us  make  answer  to  him  that 
the  student  of  humane  letters  only,  will,  at  least, 
know  also  the  great  general  conceptions  brought  in 
by  modern  physical  science ;  for  science,  as  Pro- 
fessor Huxley  says,  forces  them  upon  us  all.  But 
the  student  of  natural  sciences  only  will,  by  our  very 
hypothesis,  know  nothing  of  humane  letters ;  not 


266  THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

to  mention  that  in  setting  himself  to  be  perpetually 
accumulating  natural  knowledge,  he  sets  himself 
to  do  what  only  specialists  have  in  general  the  gift 
for  doing  genially.  And  so  he  will  probably  be 
unsatisfied,  or  at  any  rate  incomplete,  and  even  more 
incomplete  than  the  student  of  humane  letters  only. 
"  Discourses  in  America,"  pp.  124-126. 


The  Study  of  Greek 

EVEN  if  literature  is  to  retain  a  large  place  in  our 
education,  yet  Latin  and  Greek,  say  the  friends  of 
progress,  will  certainly  have  to  go.  Greek  is  the 
grand  offender  in  the  eyes  of  these  gentlemen. 
The  attackers  of  the  established  course  of  study 
think  that  against  Greek,  at  any  rate,  they  have 
irresistible  arguments.  Literature  may  perhaps  be 
needed  in  education,  they  say  ;  but  why  on  earth 
should  it  be  Greek  literature  ?  Why  not  French 
or  German  ?  Nay,  "  has  not  an  Englishman  models 
in  his  own  literature  of  every  kind  of  excellence  ?  " 
As  before,  it  is  not  on  any  weak  pleadings  of  my  own 
that  I  rely  for  convincing  the  gainsayers,  it  is  on 
the  constitution  of  human  nature  itself,  and  on  the 
instinct  of  self-preservation  in  humanity.  The 
instinct  for  beauty  is  set  in  human  nature,  as  surely 
as  the  instinct  for  knowledge  is  set  there,  or  the 
instinct  for  conduct.  If  the  instinct  for  beauty 
is  served  by  Greek  literature  and  art  as  it  is  served 
by  no  other  literature  and  art,  we  may  trust  to 
the  instinct  of  self-preservation  in  humanity  for 
keeping  Greek  as  part  of  our  culture.  We  may 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         267 

trust  to  it  for  even  making  the  study  of  Greek 
more  prevalent  than  it  is  now.  Greek  will  come, 
I  hope,  some  day  to  be  studied  more  rationally 
than  at  present ;  but  it  will  be  increasingly  studied 
as  men  increasingly  feel  the  need  in  them  for  beauty, 
and  how  powerfully  Greek  art  and  Greek  literature 
can  serve  this  need.  Women  will  again  study 
Greek,  as  Lady  Jane  Grey  did ;  I  believe  that  in 
that  chain  of  forts,  with  which  the  fair  host  of  the 
Amazons  are  now  engirdling  our  English  universities, 
I  find  that  here  in  America,  in  colleges  like  Smith 
College  in  Massachusetts,  and  Vassar  College  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  in  the  happy  families 
of  the  mixed  universities  out  West,  they  are  studying 
it  already. 

"  Discourses  in  America,"  pp.  130-132. 


The  Necessity  for  Literature 

As  with  Greek,  so  with  letters  generally  ;  they  will 
some  day  come,  we  may  hope,  to  be  studied  more 
rationally,  but  they  will  not  lose  their  place.  What 
will  happen  will  rather  be  that  there  will  be  crowded 
into  education  other  matters  besides,  far  too  many  ; 
there  will  be,  perhaps,  a  period  of  unsettlement  and 
confusion  and  false  tendency ;  but  letters  will  not 
in  the  end  lose  their  leading  place.  If  they  lose  it 
for  a  time,  they  will  get  it  back  again.  We  shall 
be  brought  back  to  them  by  our  wants  and  aspira- 
tions. And  a  poor  humanist  may  possess  his  soul 
in  patience,  neither  strive  nor  cry,  admit  the  energy 
and  brilliancy  of  the  partisans  of  physical  science, 


m\ 

re 
*\ 


268         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

and  their  present  favour  with  the  public,  to  be  far 
greater  than  his  own,  and  still  have  a  happy  faith 
that  the  nature  of  things  works  silently  on  behalf 
of  the  studies  which  he  loves,  and  that,  while  we 
shall  all  have  to  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  great 
results  reached  by  modern  science,  and  to  give 
ourselves  as  much  training  in  its  disciplines  as  we 
can  conveniently  carry,  yet  the  majority  of  men  will 
always  require  humane  letters  ;  and  so  much  the 
more,  as  they  have  the  more  and  the  greater  results 
of  science  to  relate  to  the  need  in  man  for  conduct, 
and  to  the  need  in  him  for  beauty. 

"  Discourses  in  America,"  pp.  136-137. 

Free  Education  in  Saxony 

DR.  BORNEMANN  was  of  opinion  that  the  general 
establishment  of  gratuitous  popular  instruction  in 
Germany,  though  everywhere  a  good  deal  discussed 
at  the  present  moment,  will  not  actually  come.  If 
it  does  come,  he  said,  it  will  lead  to  a  great  develop- 
ment of  private  schools.  Poor  children  cannot 
learn  so  much  as  the  better  off,  who  have  more  means 
for  preparation  at  home  ;  the  schools  will  drop  to  the 
level  of  the  poorer  children,  and  the  better  off  will 
go  to  private  elementary  schools. 

"  Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany, 
Switzerland  and  France,  1886,"  p.  6. 

Quality  of  Education 

ALONG  with  the  fuller  programme  and  longer  course 
of  German  schools  I  found,  also,  a  higher  state  of 
instruction  than  in  ours.  I  speak  of  what  I  saw  and 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         269 

heard  and  of  the  impression  which  it  made  upon 
me  after  seeing  English  schools  for  more  than  thirty 
years.  The  methods  of  teaching  in  foreign  schools 
are  more  gradual,  more  natural,  more  rational,  than 
in  ours  ;  and  in  speaking  here  of  foreign  schools  I 
include  Swiss  and  French  schools  as  well  as  German. 
I  often  asked  myself  why,  with  such  large  classes, 
the  order  was  in  general  so  thoroughly  good,  and  why 
with  such  long  hours,  the  children  had  in  general 
so  little  look  of  exhaustion  or  fatigue  ;  and  the 
answer  I  could  not  help  making  to  myself  was, 
that  the  cause  lay  in  the  children  being  taught  less 
mechanically  and  more  naturally  than  with  us, 
and  being  more  interested.  In  the  teaching  of 
arithmetic,  geometry,  and  natural  science  I  was 
particularly  struck  with  the  patience,  the  clinging 
to  oral  question  and  answer,  the  avoidance  of  over- 
hurry,  the  being  content  to  advance  slowly,  the 
securing  of  the  ground.  This  struck  me  the  more 
because  in  these  matters,  in  which  I  am  not  naturally 
quick,  I  always  had,  as  a  learner,  the  sense  of  being 
over-hurried  myself  by  my  teachers,  and  in  the 
foreign  schools  I  constantly  felt  that  if  I  had  been 
taught  these  matters  in  the  way  in  which  I  heard 
them  taught  there  I  could  have  made  progress. 
I  am  told  that  young  men  studying  for  Woolwich, 
who  go  to  Germany  to  learn  the  German  language, 
are  at  first  struck  in  the  schools  there  with  the 
mathematics  being  much  less  advanced  than  at 
home  ;  but  presently  they  find  that  the  slower  rate 
of  advance  is  more  than  compensated  by  the 
thoroughness  of  the  teaching  and  the  hold  gained 


270          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

upon  the  matter  of  study.  I  speak  with  hesitation, 
however,  on  these  matters,  and  often  I  wished  for 
some  of  my  more  competent  colleagues  to  be  with 
me  that  I  might  have  pointed  out  to  them  what 
struck  me,  and  have  asked  them  if  they  could  help 
owning  that  it  was  so.  At  any  rate  the  impression 
strongly  made  upon  me  was  as  I  have  described. 

"  Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany, 
Switzerland  and  France,  1886,"  pp.  13-14. 


Careful  Grounding 

THE  same  thing  in  teaching  the  elements  of  writing 
and  reading,  and  in  training  children  to  answer 
questions  put  to  them  ;  the  same  patience,  the  same 
care  to  make  the  child  sure  of  his  ground.  A  child 
asked  a  question  is  apt  to  answer  by  a  single  word, 
or  a  word  or  two,  and  the  questioner  is  apt  to  fill 
out  the  answer  in  his  own  mind  and  to  accept  it. 
But  in  Germany  it  is  a  regular  exercise  for  children 
to  be  made  to  give  their  answers  complete,  and  the 
discipline  in  accuracy  and  collectedness  which  is 
thus  obtained  is  very  valuable. 

"  Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany, 
Switzerland  and  France,  1886,"  p.  14. 


The  Humanising  Touch 

BUT  the  higher  one  rises  in  a  German  school  the  more 
is  the  superiority  of  the  instruction  over  ours  visible. 
Again  and  again  I  find  written  in  my  notes,  The 
children  human.  They  had  been  brought  under 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         271 

teaching  of  a  quality  to  touch  and  interest  them, 
and  were  being  formed  by  it.  The  fault  of  the 
teaching  in  our  popular  schools  at  home  is,  as  I 
have  often  said,  that  it  is  so  little  formative  ;  it 
gives  the  children  the  power  to  read  the  newspapers, 
to  write  a  letter,  to  cast  accounts,  and  gives  them  a 
certain  number  of  pieces  of  knowledge,  but  it  does 
little  to  touch  their  nature  for  good  and  to  mould 
them.  You  hear  often  people  of  the  richer  class  in 
England  wishing  that  they  and  their  children  were 
as  well  educated  as  the  children  of  an  elementary 
school ;  they  mean  that  they  wish  they  wrote  as 
good  a  hand,  worked  sums  as  rapidly  and  correctly, 
and  had  as  many  facts  of  geography  at  command  ; 
but  they  suppose  themselves  retaining  all  the  while 
the  fuller  cultivation  of  taste  and  feeling  which  is 
their  advantage  and  their  children's  advantage  over 
the  pupils  of  the  elementary  school  at  present,  and 
they  forget  that  it  is  within  the  power  of  the  popular 
school,  and  should  be  its  aim,  to  do  much  for  this 
cultivation,  although  our  schools  accomplish  for  it 
so  very  little.  The  excellent  maxim  of  that  true 
friend  of  education,  the  German  schoolmaster,  John 
Comenius,  "  The  aim  is  to  train  generally  all  who 
are  born  to  all  which  is  human,"  does  in  some 
considerable  degree  govern  the  proceedings  of 
popular  schools  in  German  countries,  and  now  in 
France  also,  but  in  England  hardly  at  all. 

"  Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany, 
Switzerland  and  France,  1886,"  p.  14. 


272          THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 


Religious  Teaching  in  Germany 

No  one  will  deny  that  religion  can  touch  the  sources 
of  thought,  feeling,  and  life,  and  I  had  not  been 
prepared  for  the  seriousness  with  which  the  religious 
instruction  is  given  in  Germany,  even  in  Protestant 
Germany,  and  for  the  effect  which  it  produces. 
Little  or  nothing  was  said  in  Lutheran  schools, 
about  the  church  and  its  authority,  about  the 
clergy  and  their  attributes,  but  I  was  surprised  to 
find  with  what  energy  and  seriousness  points  raised 
by  the  catechism — for  example,  the  question  in 
what  sense  it  can  be  said  that  God  tempts  men — 
were  handled,  and  of  the  intelligence  and  interest 
with  which  the  children  followed  what  was  said  and 
answered  the  questions  put  to  them.  The  chief 
effect  of  the  religious  teaching,  however,  certainly 
lies  in  the  Bible  passages,  and  still  more  in  the 
evangelical  hymns,  which  are  so  abundantly  learnt 
by  heart  and  repeated  by  the  children.  No  one 
could  watch  the  faces  of  the  children,  of  the  girls 
particularly,  without  feeling  that  something  in  their 
nature  responded  to  what  they  were  repeating,  and 
was  moved  by  it.  It  is  said  that  two  thirds  of  the 
working  classes  in  the  best  educated  countries  of 
Protestant  Germany  are  detached  from  the  received 
religion,  and  the  inference  is  drawn  that  the  religious 
teaching  in  the  schools  must  be  a  vain  formality. 
But  may  it  not  happen  that  chords  are  awakened 
by  the  Bible  and  hymns  in  German  schools  which 
remain  a  possession  even  though  the  course  of  later 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         273 

life  may  carry  the  German  adult  far  away  from 
Lutheran  dogma  ? 

"  Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany, 
Switzerland  and  France,  1886,"  p.  14. 


Organisation  the  Secret  of  Superiority 

THE  instruction  is  better  in  the  foreign  popular 
schools  than  in  ours,  because  the  teachers  are  better 
trained,  and  of  the  training  of  teachers  I  shall  have 
to  speak  presently.  This  is  the  main  reason  of  the 
superiority,  that  the  teachers  are  better  trained. 
But  that  they  are  better  trained  comes  from  a 
cause  which  acts  for  good  upon  the  whole  of  education 
abroad,  that  the  instruction  as  a  whole  is  better 
organised  than  with  us.  Indeed,  with  us  it  is  not, 
and  cannot  at  present  be  organised  as  a  whole  at  all, 
for  the  public  administration,  which  deals  with  the 
popular  schools,  stops  at  those  schools,  and  takes 
into  its  view  no  others.  But  there  is  an  article  in 
the  constitution  of  Canton  Zurich  which  well 
expresses  the  idea  which  prevails  everywhere  abroad 
of  the  organisation  of  instruction  from  top  to 
bottom  as  one  whole  :  Die  hohern  Lehranstalten 
sollen  mit  der  Volkschule  in  organische  Verbindung 
gebracht  werden ;  the  higher  establishments  for 
teaching  shall  be  brought  into  organic  connexion 
with  the  popular  school.  And  men  like  Wilhelm 
von  Humboldt  in  Germany  and  Guizot  or  Cousin 
in  France  have  been  at  the  head  of  the  public 
administration  of  schools  in  those  countries,  and 
have  organised  popular  instruction  as  a  part  of  one 

T 


274         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

great  system,  a  part  in  correspondence  of  some  kind 
with  the  higher  parts,  and  to  be  organised  with  the 
same  seriousness,  the  same  thorough  knowledge  and 
large  views  of  education,  the  same  single  eye  to  its 
requirements,  as  the  higher  parts. 

"  Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany, 
Switzerland,  and  France,  1886,"  p.  15. 

Lack  of  Co-ordination 

WE  may  imagine  the  like  in  England  if  we  suppose  a 
man  like  Sir  James  Mackintosh  at  the  head  of  the 
Education  Department  having  to  administer  the 
public  school  system  for  intermediate  and  higher 
education  as  well  as  the  popular  schools,  in  continual 
intercourse  with  the  representatives  of  that  system 
as  well  as  with  representatives  of  the  popular  schools, 
and  treating  questions  respecting  popular  instruction 
with  a  mind  apt  for  all  educational  questions  and 
conversant  with  them,  aided,  moreover,  by  the 
intercourse  just  spoken  of.  Evidently  questions 
respecting  codes  and  programmes  would  then 
present  themselves  under  conditions  very  different 
from  the  present  conditions.  The  popular  school  in 
our  country  is  at  present  considered  by  the  minister 
in  charge  of  it  not  at  all  as  one  stage  to  be  co-ordered 
with  the  other  stages  in  a  great  system  of  public 
schools,  and  to  have  its  course  surveyed  and  fixed 
from  the  point  of  view  of  a  knower  and  lover  of 
education.  Not  at  all ;  the  popular  school  is 
necessarily,  for  him,  not  so  much  an  educational 
problem  as  a  social  and  political  one  ;  as  a  school 
dealing  with  a  few  elementary  matters,  simple 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         275 

enough,  and  the  great  thing  is  to  make  the  House 
of  Commons  and  the  public  mind  satisfied  that 
value  is  received  for  the  public  money  spent  on 
teaching  these  matters.  Hence  the  Code  which 
governs  the  instruction  in  our  popular  schools. 
And  I  have  always  felt  that  objections  made  in  the 
pure  interest  of  good  instruction  and  education  to 
the  Code  had  this  disadvantage,  that  they  came 
before  a  man,  often  very  able,  but  who,  from  his 
circumstances,  would  not  and  could  not  consider 
them  from  the  point  of  a  disinterested  knower  and 
friend  of  education  at  all,  but  from  a  point  of  view 
quite  different. 

''Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany; 
Switzerland,  and  France,  1886,"  p.  15. 

Co-ordination  of  Primary  and  Secondary 
Education 

IN  this  report  I  have  not  space  for  showing  the 
many  ways  in  which  abroad  the  higher  education  of 
the  country  is  in  continual  correspondence  with  the 
popular  education,  helping  and  strengthening  the 
work  of  the  training  colleges,  advising  the  Minister 
by  commissions  of  experts  on  educational  questions 
requiring  study,  and  so  forth.  But  it  will  be  at  once 
evident  how  directly  schools  like  the  hohere  Volks- 
Schulen  of  Saxony,  the  Secundar-Schulen  of  Zurich, 
the  Ecole  Turgot  at  Paris,  under  one  public  adminis- 
tration with  the  ordinary  popular  schools,  and 
receiving  boys  from  them  to  be  prepared  for  com- 
mercial and  industrial  pursuits,  and  to  continue  up 
to  the  age  of  sixteen  or  seventeen  the  education 


276         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

commenced  in  the  popular  school,  it  will  be  at  once 
evident,  I  say,  how  this  continuation  and  corre- 
spondence must  naturally  affect  the  programme  of 
the  popular  school.  That  programme  cannot  be 
treated  as  something  isolated  and  quite  simple, 
having  merely  to  satisfy,  not  those  who  look  well 
into  the  matter,  but  the  so-called  practical  man  and 
the  public  mind. 

"  Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany, 
Switzerland  and  France,  1886,"  p.  16. 


Status,  Training,  and  Pensioning  of  Teachers 

THE  training  school  course  there  lasts  six  years. 
But  a  youth  enters  at  the  age  of  about  fourteen,  with 
the  attainments  required  for  passing  an  examination 
for  the  Entlassungs-Zeugniss,oT  certificate  of  discharge 
from  a  mittlere  Volksschule,  or  popular  school  of  the 
second  grade,  a  school  which  in  Saxony  must  be 
organised  in  at  least  four  classes,  with  a  two  years' 
course  for  each.  In  the  training  school,  instruction 
and  lodging  are  free  ;  a  small  sum  is  paid  for  board, 
but  a  certain  number  of  free  boarders,  "  gifted  poor 
children,"  are  admitted.  In  the  Friedrichstadt 
training  school  at  Dresden,  which  I  visited,  there 
were  more  day  students  than  boarders,  only  88  out 
of  216  being  boarders.  But  this  is  not  the  usual 
proportion ;  students,  however,  are  permitted  to 
live  at  home  or  with  families  chosen  by  their  parents, 
and  there  being  much  pressure  for  admission  to 
the  Friedrichstadt  school,  many,  for  whom  there  is 
not  room  as  boarders,  attend  as  day  students  rather 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         277 

than  not  attend  at  all.  The  training  school  at 
Dresden  for  schoolmistresses  takes  no  boarders  ; 
all  the  students  live  at  home  or  in  private  families. 

To  the  training  school  is  attached  a  practising 
school,  organised  as  a  mittlere  Schule,  a  middle  school 
with  four  classes  and  155  scholars.  In  this  school 
the  students  see  and  learn  the  practice  of  teaching. 
Their  own  instruction  they  receive  in  small  classes 
which  may  not  have  more  than  25  scholars.  Their 
hours  in  class  may  not  exceed  36  a  week,  not  counting 
the  time  given  to  music.  The  matters  of  instruction 
are  religion  (the  Friedrichstadt  school  is  Protestant) , 
German  language  and  literature,  Latin,  geography, 
history,  natural  science  both  descriptive  and  theo- 
retical, arithmetic,  geometry,  pedagogy,  including 
psychology  and  logic,  music,  writing,  drawing, 
and  gymnastics.  All  of  these  matters  are  obligatory, 
but  after  the  first  year  students  of  proved  incapacity 
for  music  are  no  longer  taught  it. 

At  the  end  of  the  course,  when  the  student  is 
about  twenty  years  old,  he  undergoes  the  Schulamts- 
kandidaten-Pru/ung  or  examination  for  office.  The 
examination  is  both  oral  and  in  writing,  and  turns 
upon  the  work  of  the  student's  course  in  the  training 
school.  The  examining  commission  is  composed 
of  the  Minister's  commissary,  a  church  commissary, 
and  the  whole  staff  of  the  training  college.  The 
staff  conduct  the  examination,  the  Minister's  com- 
missary presides  and  superintends. 

If  the  student  passes  he  receives  his  Reifezeugniss, 
or  certificate  of  ripeness,  and  is  now  qualified  to 
serve  as  assistant  in  a  public  popular  school,  or  as 


278         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

a  private  teacher  where  his  work  has  not  to  go 
beyond  the  limits  of  popular  school  instruction. 
After  two  years  of  service  as  assistant,  at  the  age 
of  about  twenty-two,  the  young  teacher  returns  to 
the  training  school  and  presents  himself  for  the 
Wahlfdhigkeits-Prufung  or  examination  for  definitive 
posting.  For  this  examination  the  commission  is 
composed  of  the  Minister's  commissary,  a  church 
commissary,  the  director  of  the  seminar,  and  either 
two  of  its  upper  teachers,  or  else  other  approved 
schoolmen  named  by  the  Minister.  This  examina- 
tion again  is  both  written  and  oral.  I  attended  the 
oral  part  on  two  days  at  the  Friedrichstadt  training 
school,  and  heard  and  saw  candidates  examined  in 
religion,  music,  German  language,  and  literature, 
the  history  of  education,  pedagogy,  psychology,  logic 
and  school  law.  The  Minister's  commissary  was 
the  Inspector  for  Dresden,  Mr.  Eichenberg  ;  he 
took  an  active  part  in  the  examination.  The 
church  commissary  listened  in  silence,  but  his 
signature  is  required  for  the  certificate.  Of  a  batch, 
of  ten  students  whom  I  heard  examined  together 
in  the  history  of  education  I  observed  that  seven 
wore  spectacles.  But  in  general  the  students  gave 
me  the  impression  of  being  better  and  more  fully 
educated  than  ours,  under  a  better  planned  system, 
and  by  better  trained  instructors.  The  school 
synod  at  Hamburg  unites  all  the  teachers  of  the  city, 
and  something  of  this  union  of  the  lower  members 
of  the  teaching  profession  with  the  higher  exists 
throughout  Germany  and  is  of  great  value.  I  found 
that  Mr.  Griillich,  the  inspector  for  the  country 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         279 

district  round  Dresden,  a  very  accomplished  and 
able  man,  held  periodical  conferences  with  the 
teachers  of  his  district.  The  conferences  were  not 
fewer  than  six  in  the  year,  lasted  a  whole  afternoon, 
and  turned  on  matters  settled  by  programme 
beforehand,  matters  of  interest  to  those  engaged 
in  education.  The  Lehrziel,  or  aim  to  guide  the 
teaching  of  the  students'  several  subjects,  which  is 
given  in  the  Saxon  Seminar  or  dnung,  or  regulation 
for  ordering  of  training  schools,  is  in  itself  an 
instructor's  manual  full  of  counsel  and  suggestive- 
ness. 

The  training  school  course  for  Saxon  school- 
mistresses resembles  in  general  that  for  school- 
masters, but  it  lasts  for  five  years  only  instead  of 
six.  The  obligatory  matters  are  the  same  as  for 
students  of  the  other  sex,  except  that  French  is 
substituted  for  Latin,  and  needlework  is  added. 
English  and  instrumental  music  are  optional  subjects. 
The  rules  for  examination  and  certificate-granting 
are  similar. 

Training  schools  for  schoolmistresses  are,  how- 
ever, much  less  numerous  in  Germany  than  those 
for  schoolmasters,  because  in  German  countries 
women  are  much  less  used  in  teaching  than  men. 
In  Prussia,  for  instance,  there  are  115  training 
schools  for  schoolmasters,  but  only  ten  for  school- 
mistresses. In  Saxony  there  are  sixteen  for  school- 
masters, one  of  the  sixteen  being  for  Catholics ; 
there  are  only  two  for  schoolmistresses.  It  is  held 
to  be  beyond  question  that  certain  matters  of 
instruction  in  the  upper  classes  of  the  popular 


280         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

school  women  cannot  teach  satisfactorily.  In  general 
a  woman  may  in  boys'  or  mixed  schools  teach  only 
the  lower  classes.  The  Hamburg  school  law  directs 
that  in  the  popular  schools  for  girls  in  that  city  the 
head  teacher  and  one  other  teacher  at  least  shall 
always  be  men.  At  Zurich  I  found  a  very  capable 
and  pleasing  schoolmistress,  who  had  been  employed 
at  Versailles  by  the  French  Education  Department 
(what  a  lesson  for  our  Department !)  during  the 
year  of  the  last  Paris  Exhibition,  to  conduct  a 
primary  school  and  show  French  teachers  practically 
what  the  methods  of  a  good  Swiss  school  were. 
At  Zurich  she  was  teaching  a  lower  class,  and  com- 
plained much  that  she  could  not  rise  higher.  The 
French  Education  Department  would  gladly  have 
retained  her  in  France,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for 
home  duties  she  would  gladly,  she  said,  have  stayed  ; 
the  career  for  a  schoolmistress  was  so  much  better 
there. 

''  Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany, 
Switzerland  and  France,  1886,"  pp.  16-17. 

French  Training  Schools 

THE  French  training  schools  require  separate  notice. 
Not  that  the  forms  of  the  system  established  by 
the  Training  School  Law  of  1879,  when  M.  Jules 
Ferry  was  Minister  of  Instruction,  and  organised 
by  the  decree  of  1881,  differ  very  greatly  from  those 
in  Germany.  Boarding  is  more  generally  the  rule, 
and  board,  lodging,  and  instruction  are  all  of  them 
gratuitous ;  but  the  age  of  admission  is  fifteen, 
though  candidates  are  received  up  to  eighteen.  The 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         281 

candidate  must  have  the  certificat  d' etudes  primaires, 
or  certificate  that  he  has  passed  the  leaving  examina- 
tion of  the  primary  school,  and  he  must  engage 
himself  to  serve  for  ten  years  as  a  functionary  of 
public  instruction.  His  time  passed  in  the  training 
school,  however,  after  the  age  of  eighteen  has  been 
reached  by  him,  counts  towards  the  fulfilment  of 
this  engagement.  The  training  school  course  lasts 
three  years  ;  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  student 
has  to  pass  his  examination  for  the  "  elementary 
brevet  of  capacity,"  or  certificate  as  we  call  it ;  at 
the  end  of  the  third  year  that  for  the  "  superior 
brevet."  The  examination  turns  upon  the  obligatory 
matters  of  the  training  school  course,  which  are 
moral  and  civic  instruction,  reading,  writing,  the 
French  language  and  elements  of  French  literature, 
history  and  geography,  those  of  France  in  particular, 
and  so  on  ;  a  programme  less  strong  than  that  of 
a  German  training  school,  but  taking  the  same  line 
of  subjects,  except  as  to  religion.  One  or  more 
modern  languages  may  be  taken,  but  this  is  optional. 
To  each  training  school  a  practising  school  is  attached 
as  in  Germany. 

''  Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany, 
Switzerland  and  France,  1886,"  p.  18. 


General  Reflections  from  Abroad 

I  WAS  sent  to  make  inquiries,  and  I  have  tried  to 
give,  as  succinctly  as  I  could,  the  result  of  them. 
That  I  should  add  recommendations  was  not  in  my 
commission,  but  I  may  be  allowed,  perhaps,  to  put 


282         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

forward  one  or  two  remarks  which  are  very  present 
to  my  mind  in  consequence  of  what  I  have  seen. 

In  the  first  place,  the  retention  of  school  fees  is  not 
a  very  important  matter.  Simply  from  the  point 
of  view  of  a  friend  of  education  there  are  advantages 
in  their  retention,  and  advantages  in  their  abolition, 
and  the  balance  of  advantage  is  decidedly,  in  my 
opinion,  on  the  side  of  retention.  But  we  must 
remember,  on  the  other  hand,  that  there  are  some 
questions  which  it  is  peculiarly  undesirable  to  make 
matters  of  continued  public  discussion  ;  questions 
peculiarly  lending  themselves  to  the  mischievous 
declamation  and  arts  of  demagogues,  and  that 
this  question  of  gratuitous  popular  schooling  is  one 
of  them.  How  often,  if  the  question  becomes  a 
political  one,  will  declaimers  be  repeating  that  the 
popular  school  ought  to  be  made  free  because  the 
wealthier  classes  have  robbed  the  poor  of  endow- 
ments intended  to  educate  them.  The  assertion 
is  not  true,  indeed  ;  what  we  call  "  popular  educa- 
tion is  a  quite  modern  conception  ;  what  the 
pious  founder  in  general  designed  formerly  was  to 
catch  all  promising  subjects  and  to  make  priests 
of  them.  But  how  surely  will  popular  audiences 
believe  that  the  popular  school  has  been  robbed, 
and  how  bad  for  them  to  believe  it,  how  will  the 
confusion  of  our  time  be  yet  further  thickened  by 
their  believing  it !  I  am  inclined  to  think  therefore 
that  sooner  than  let  free  popular  schooling  become 
a  burning  political  question  in  a  country  like  ours, 
a  wise  statesman  would  do  well  to  adopt  and  organise 
it.  Only  it  will  be  impossible  to  organise  it  with 


THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION         283 

the  State  limiting  its  concern,  as  it  does  now,  to 
the  popular  school  only  ;  and  this  can  be  so  palpably 
shown  to  be  a  matter  of  common  justice  that  one 
need  not  despair  of  bringing  even  the  popular 
judgment  to  recognise  it. 

Secondly,  there  is  a  danger,  perhaps,  lest  when 
we  have  got  very  elaborate  and  complete  returns, 
and  these  returns  show  a  very  satisfactory  proportion 
between  scholars  in  daily  attendance  and  scholars 
on  the  books,  a  very  satisfactory  limit  to  the  number 
of  scholars  allowed  to  each  teacher,  and  a  very 
satisfactory  percentage  of  passes  in  the  established 
matters  of  instruction,  we  should  think  that  therefore 
we  must  be  doing  well  with  our  popular  schools,  and 
that  we  have  no  cause  to  envy  the  popular  schools 
abroad,  and  nothing  to  learn  from  them.  On  the 
contrary,  the  things  on  which  we  pride  ourselves 
are  mere  machinery ;  and  what  we  should  do  well 
to  lay  to  heart  is  that  foreign  schools  with  larger 
classes,  longer  holidays,  and  a  school-day  often  cut 
in  two  as  we  have  seen,  nevertheless,  on  the  whole, 
give,  from  the  better  training  of  their  teachers,  and 
the  better  planning  of  their  school  course,  a  superior 
popular  instruction  to  ours. 

And  this  brings  me  thirdly  and  finally  to  the 
point  raised  at  the  end  of  my  first  remark,  and 
urged  by  me  so  often  and  so  vainly  ever  since  my 
mission  abroad  in  1859 ;  our  need  to  organise  our 
secondary  instruction.  This  is  desirable  in  the 
interest  of  our  secondary  and  higher  instruction,  of 
course,  principally  j  but  it  is  desirable,  I  may  say  it 
is  indispensable,  in  the  interest  of  our  popular 


284         THOUGHTS  ON  EDUCATION 

instruction  also.  Every  one  now  admits  that 
popular  instruction  is  a  matter  for  public  institution 
and  supervision  ;  but  so  long  as  public  institution 
and  supervision  stop  there,  and  no  contact  and 
correlation  are  established  between  our  popular 
instruction  and  the  instruction  above  it,  so  long  the 
condition  of  our  popular  instruction  itself  will  and 
must  be  unsatisfactory. 

"  Special  Report  on  Elementary  Education  in  Germany, 
Switzerland  and  France,  1886,"  pp.  24-25. 


INDEX 


*  ACADEMY,  lack  of  an  English, 

•  Aim  of  instruction,  177,  242, 

243 

•  Alterthumswissenschaft.      See 

ANCIENT  AUTHORS. 
^America,     national    character 

of,  13 
tendency  of  democracy  in, 

44 

( Ancient  authors  (Alterthums- 
wissenschaft) as  literature, 
169,  185  ;  178,  183 

i  Aristocracy ,  influence  of,  13,  43 

'  Aristocratic    ideal,    educative 

effect  of,  1 08 

Arminius,  112-119 

...-  Asiles  ouvroirs,  34 

:  Austria  and  examinations,  175 

BACON,   82. 
-Balladists,  86 

Basedow,  160 
-Bentley  on  Pope's  translations, 

-  Bible,     humanizing    influence 

of,  as  literature,  14 
and  Homer,  75 
of  the  Athenians,  80 
"  A      Bible       reading      for  | 

Schools,"  205,  206 
the     only    classic    for    the  I 

people,  212 
hindrances     to    reading    in  j 

schools,  213 
-Bilingual   question,    121  ;     cf. 

4.  "9  1 


Books.    See  SCHOOL-BOOKS. 
Bright,  John,  13,  125 
Brodstudien,  175 
Buff  on,  77 

Burke,  definition  of  law,  104 
Butler,  Bishop,  Sermon  on  Edu- 
cation, 242 

CALDERON,  73 

Cambridge  compared  to  higher 

lycee,  141,  195,  197 
Gary,  73 
Certificates,  37 

Chapman  and  Homer,  62,  63 
complexity  of  thought,  64, 

65.67 
Character  and  culture,  20,  95, 

245 

English,  199,  236 
Christian  Brothers,  schools  of, 

23 

Clanricarde,  Lord,  115 
Claptrap  and  Catchwords,  224 
Class  division  and  State  Autho- 
rity, in 

Classes,  size  of,  37 
Classical    poetry,    relation    to 

modern,  210 
Classics,  growing  disbelief  in, 

148  ; 

reform  of,  160  ; 
as  literature,  169,  185 
value  of  training  in,  172, 208 
conflict        with        modern 

studies,  177,  181 
power  of,  183,  240 ;  Greek 
266 


286 


INDEX 


Code,  the,  how  shaped,  275 
Napoleon,  rational  form  of, 

38 

Co-education,  5,  32 
College  of  France,  133 
Comenius,  160,  271 
Commercial  theory  of  educa- 
tion, 185 

Compulsory.     See  under  EDU- 
CATION. 
Condorcet,  plan  of  secondary 

education,  135 
Confectioner    and    doctor    in 

education,  224 
Continent,   experience  of  the, 

152 

contrasts,  158 
obstacles    to    profiting    by, 

158 

general  reflections  from,  281 
Controversy,  evils  of  literary, 

76 
Convention,    schools    founded 

by  the,  24 

Co-ordination,  274,  275 
Corneille,  73 
Council  of  public  instruction, 

^S,  157  I   tf.  161,  192 
Cousin,  47,  143,  273 
Cowper,  66,  73 
Cramming,    and   the   creative 

spirit,  239 

Critic,  first  duty  of  the,  84 
Criticism  needed  against  Eng- 
lish eccentricity,  70 
use  of  ignorance  in,  79 
positive  result  in,  81 
Culture,     lack     of,    in    pupil 

teachers,  5 

and  reading-books,  14 
and     character    united     at 

Athens,  20,  245 
and  teachers,  93 
Prussian  belief  in,  167 
needed  for  all,  216 
defined,  258  sq. 
Cuvier,  47,  50 

DANTE,  66,  68  73 
D'Argenson, 


Degrees,  197 

Democracy       organized       by 

France,  17 
lacks  ideals,  18 
Denominational  education,  152, 

167 

Dilettanteism,  78 
Discipline,  3 

in     French      and      English 
schools,  147 

ECCENTRICITY  and  Criticism,  70 
Education,  governing  aim  of, 

242,  243 

commercial  theory  of,  185 
compulsory,    alone    is    uni- 
versal, 7,  119,  153 

would  it  succeed,  122 

abroad,  152 

and  in  England,  152 

denominational,  152 
expenditure  on,   in   France 

and  England,  32 
free,  26,  236,  268,  282 
higher,       102,      155.        See 

MIDDLE  CLASS. 
a  learned  and  a  liberal,  93 
middle-class  and  the  State, 

103 

proportion  in,  i 
quality  of,  268 
secondary,  in  England   and 
France,  27 

need  of  organizing,  3 1 

summed  up,  187  273-5, 

283 

secular,  152 
the  spread  of,  as  dislocating 

society,  42 
State    interference    in,    16, 

102,  105 

superiority  in,  due  to  organi- 
sation, 273,  274, 275 
Education  Council,  138,  157 
functions  of,  192 

Minister,  138,  145 

need  of,  165 

Educational  results  of  the 
French  Revolution,  24 ; 
cf>  135 


INDEX 


287 


Efficiency,   need  of  securities 

for,  97,  192 
by  training,  199 
Endowed    schools,    inspection 

of,  194 

Endowments,  102 
England,  lack  of  great  ideas  in, 

13 

English  in  Welsh  schools,  4 
more     to     be     studied     by 

pupil  teachers,  6 
poor  anthologies  of,  15 

• the  Latin  element  in,  55 

belief  in  machinery  and 

disbelief    in    government, 
157,  153 
contrast  with  Prussia,  167 

character,  199,  236 

Epic  poetry,  best  metres  for, 

7i 
Eton,  reform  of,  94 

and  France,  97 

type  of  life  at,  101 

and  Lycurgus  House,  116 
Eutrapelia,  244 
Examinations,  why  severe  for 
teachers,  10 

for  Dutch  teachers,  48 

delusive,  99 

in  France  and  England,  144 

appointment  by,  150,  199 

German  and  French  leaving 
examinations  163,  196 

and  Brodstudien,  175 

and  Austria,  175 

FALSISMS,  221,  222 
Foreign  languages,  186 
France,  character  of  the  masses 

in,  17 

causes  of  the  power  of,  1 7 
administrative   divisions  in, 

22 

free  education  in,  26,  236 
primary  schools  in,  26 
secondary  education  of,  com- 
pared with   England,  27, 
127 

effect  of  public  education  in, 
29 


France,   educational   expendi- 
ture in  1856. .32 
schoolless  children  in,  33 
liberal  spirit  of  legislation, 

40 

and  the  State,  112 
M.  Arnold's  love  of,  254 
Free  education  in  France,  26, 

236 

in  Saxony,  268,  282 
French  and  English  literature! 

94 

French  Revolution,  educationa 
results  of,  24  ;  cf.  135 

GAMES  in  English  and  German 
schools,  171 

General  reflections  from  abroad , 
281 

Geography,  231 

Germany  and  refinement,  108 
Prussian  school  law,  161 
games   and    gymnastics    in, 

171 

University  system  in,  1 76 
quality  of  education,  268 
careful  grounding,  270 
religious  teaching  in,  272 

Goethe,  73,  78,  109,  217,  244 

Goldsmith,  210 

Government,  over-and  under-, 

22 
English  disbelief  in,  157 

Grammar  teaching,  no 
as  class  subject,  228 

Grand  style,  65,  67,  68,  73,  83, 
84 

Greek,     93,     148.      See    also 

CLASSICS. 
spirit,  178,  183 
study  of,  266 

Grounding,  careful,  270 

Guizot,  24,  39,  40 

law  of  primary  instruction, 
137,  227,  273 

Gymnastics,  171 

HAUPT,  109 

Hawtrey,  100 

Hexameter,  the  English,  74 


288 


INDEX 


History,  school  of,  227 
Holland,  primary  schools  in,  45 

organized  school  inspection 
in,  46 

position     of     teachers     in, 

47 

teachers'  examinations  in,  47 
pupil  teachers  in,  48 
religious  instructions  in,  49 
normal  school  at  Haarlem,  50 
schools     of     Utrecht     and 

Leyden,  51 

Homer,  how  to  approach,  55 
genius  of,  76 
the    four    qualities    of    his 

poetry,  56,  63 
works  in  the  grand  style,  66, 

68 

unlikeness  to  Milton,  57 
not  rendered  by  Pope,  59,  60, 

61 

and  Scott,  69 
and  Voltaire,  65,  87 
and  the  Elizabethans,  64 
and  the  Bible,  75,  80 
Homeric  unity,  67 
Human    nature    and    science 

teaching,  262 
Humanizing  influence  of  Bible, 

14 
touch  in  German  schools, 

270 

Humanists,  178,  188 
Humboldt,  motto  from,    151 ; 

195,  227,  273 
Huxley,  Professor,  258  et  seq. 

IDEALS,  lacking  in  democracy, 

18 
value  of,   to  a   nation,  43, 

108 

Ignorance,  saving  grace  of,  79 
Inspection  of  private  schools, 

of  public  schools,  98,  100 
organized  in  Holland,  46 
of  endowed  schools,  194 
German  method,  194 
Inspectors,  duty  of,  7 
as  civil  servants,  38 


Instruction,  true  aim  of,  177 
Intellectual   life,   national   in- 
fluence of,  107,  251 
Ireland,   university   education 
in,  220,  252 

JESUITS,  schools  of  the,  134 
Johnson,  tailor  and  president 
109 

LACORDAIRE  on  character,  95 
Latin,  element  of,  in  English, 
55, 146.  See  also  CLASSICS. 
power  of,  183 
verse,  183,  184 
in  elementary  schools,  203 
Law  and  rational  language,  38 
Burke's  definition  of,  104 
educational  in  England  and 

Germany,  217,  161 
Letters,  science,  and  the  Middle 

Ages,  264 
final  need  of,  in  education, 

265 
of   school   children  quoted, 

125 

Leyden,  51 
Liberal  education,  93 
Light  as  a  moral  cause,  250 
Literary  controversy,  76 

opinion,  English,  77 

Literature,    not    belles    lettres, 

259 

necessity  for,  267 
need  to  be  apprehended  as  a 

whole,  210 

civilizing  power  of,  215 
need  of,  in  popular  schools, 

205,  210 

and  science,  229,  255 
French  and  English,  94 
Lowe,  89 

Lumpington,  Lord,  116 
Lycees,  25,   135 

Oxford  and  Cambridge  com- 
pared to,  141,  195,  197 
and  examinations,  144 
uniformity  in,  226 
Lycurgus  House,  116 


INDEX 


MACAULAY,  87 

Machinery,   English  belief  in, 

157 

Managers,  school,  238 
Masterpieces,      formative     in- 
fluence of,  244 
Masters,  French  and  English, 

142 

Mathematical  teaching  in  Ger- 
man schools,  269 
Mediaeval  Universities,  264 
Metres  for  Epic  poetry,  71,  73 
Middle  Ages,  science  and  letters, 

264 
Middle-class     children,    lower, 

and  discipline,  3 
lack  of  public  schools  for, 

19,  100,  112 

relation  to  upper  class,  29 
and  working  class,  31,  106, 

233 

type  of  school  life  for,  101 
and  higher  education,    102, 

155 

education  and  the  State,  103 

in  Germany,  108 

on  the  second,  not  the  first, 

plane  in  England,  189 
Milton,  unlikeness  to  Homer, 

57.  69.  73,  88 

Mind,  things  of  the,  as  a 
political  force,  251 

Ministry  of  public  instruction, 

138,  146 
need  of,  165 

Mixed  schools  in  France  and 
Holland, 32;  cf.  CO-EDUCA- 
TION 

Modern  language  teachers,  165 

Montaigne,  80 

Montalembert  on  English 
public  schools,  12 

NAPOLEON,     organization     of 

Church  and  State,  13 
as   educator,   25,    135.     See 

also  CODE. 
National  character,  American, 

J3 
French,  17 


National  influence  of  the  in- 
tellectual life,  107 
National  need  of  a  serious  con- 
ception  of  righteousness, 
201 

Natur-Kunde,  230 
Needlework  schools,  34 
Newman,  67,  79,  87,  88 
Normal  school  at  Haarlem,  50 
in  France,  139 

OBEDIENCE  and  right  action, 

200 
Organization     the    secret    of 

superiority,  273 
Over-government,  22 
Oxford,  apostrophe  to,  109 
and  Paris,  130 
compared    to    higher    lycJe, 
141,  195,  197 

I  PAKINGTON,  Sir  John,  39 
j  Parents   and   religious   educa- 
tion, 40 

Paris,  University  of,  128 
and  Oxford,  130 
range  of  studies  in,  131,  134 
Payment  by  results,  121 

of  schoolmasters,    Prussian, 

167 

Pedagogic,  164 
People,     need     of    letters    in 

schools  for  the,  205,  210 
Philistines,  three  classes  of,  113 
Poetical  monument,  the  most 

important,  42 
Poetry,  classical  and  modern, 

210 

English,  for  schools,  210,  226 
formative  power  of,  232 
influence  of,  234,  241, 244 
Poets,  distinctive  character  of, 

86 
Political  force  of  the  things  of 

the  mind,  251 
Pope  and  Homer,  55,  59,  60, 

67.  85 

a   warning    to    translators, 
61 


290 


INDEX 


Pope  contrasted   with    Chap- 
man, 62 

criticizes  Chapman,  65 
Priesthood,  influence  of,  13,  43   i 
Primary  schools   not   co-ordi- 
nated with  secondary,  274, 
275 

in  France,  26 
Guizot's  law,  137 
Prinsen,  50 

Privatdocent,  the,  173 
Private  schools,  inspection  of, 

in  France,  35 
the  old,  124 

in  France  and  England,  146, 
192 

teaching,  function  of,  2 

Professors,  State  appointment  ! 

of,  198,  223 

Prussian  school  law,  161 
leaving  examinations,  163 
belief  in  culture,  167 
religious  instruction,  167 
schoolmasters'  pay,  169 
Public  establishment  of  second-  i 

ary  schools,  105 
value  of,  151 

instruction,  ministry  and 

council    of,    138,    157,  cf. 
161 

schools,  English,  12 

Talleyrand  on,  28 

lack     of,     for     the     middle 

class,  19,  97,  100,  112 
products,  97 

securities  offered  by,  98,  192 
discipline  as  compared  with 

French,  147 
routine  in,  182 
Pupil  teachers,  36 

lack  of  culture  in,  5,  15 
in  Holland,  48 

RATIONAL    language  and    the 

law,  38 

Reading,  regular,  249 
of  newspapers,  250 
Reading-books  and  culture,  14, 

91,  124 

Realists,  180,  188 


Realschulen,  160,  167,  172,  177 
Reason,  the  State  as  organ  of 

the  national,  41 
Recitation,    value  of,   51,   91, 

202,  225,  232,  241 
Reformation  and  Renascence, 
influence  in  education,  159 
Regulation  of  studies,  227 
Regulations,  Prinsen's  view  of, 

5i 
Religion,   no  consensus  as  to 

teaching,  2 
need  of,  221 
Religious  teaching,  41 

and  rights  of  the  parent,  40 
in  Holland,  49 
in  Prussia,  167 
in  Germany,  272 
Renan,  259 

Results,  payment  by,  121 
Revised  code,  89 
Revolution,     French,     educa- 
tional results  of,  24,  135 
Righteousness,    national    need 

of,  201 

Rousseau,  160 
Routine  in  public  schools,  182 

SAINTE  BEUVE,  82,  255 
Salaries.       See     PAYMENT; 
SCHOOLMASTERS;  and 
TEACHERS 

Saxony,  free  education  in,  268 
Schiller,  73,  109 
School  as  a  family  or  as  a  little 

world,  101 
School-books,   choice  of,    124, 

170 
School  inspector,  duty  of,  7 

law,  Prussian,  161 

in   England   and   Germany, 

217 

Schoolless  children,  33 
Schoolmaster,  the,  9 
qualification  of,  10 
training  of,  10 
the  Dutch,  45,  47 
pay  of  Prussian,  169 
Schoolmasters  to  the  nations 
13,  43 


INDEX 


291 


Schools.     See     also     PUBLIC  ; 

PRIVATE  ;   INSPECTION. 
English,    initial    defect    in, 

159 
public       establishment      of 

secondary,  105 
securities  for  culture  in,  97, 

98,  105 
technical,  156 
voluntary,  235 
of  the  Jesuits,  134 
of  Leyden  and  Utrecht,  51 
of  Soreze  and  Toulouse,  97 
of  the  teaching  orders,   23, 

27.  33 
founded  by  the  Convention, 

24 

primary,  in  France,  26 

in  Holland,  45 

for  the  poor,  26,  31 

needlework,  34 
Science  and  letters,  229,  255 

and  the  Middle  Ages,  264 
by  nature  teaching,  230 

teaching  and  grammar,  no 

teaching  and  human  nature, 

262 
Scientific  action  denned,  219 

teaching,  260 
Scott,  69,  87 

Secondary  education.     See  also 
under  EDUCATION. 

instruction    in     England 

and  France,  27 

cost  of,  96 

not    governed    by    law    of 
supply  and  demand,  98 

real  needs  in,  99 

result  of  organizing,  102 

public  establishment  of,  105 

and  the  intellectual  life,  107 

origin     of     our     secondary 
schools,  127 

Condorcet's  plan  of,  135 

summed  up,  187 
Secular  instruction,  41 

education,  152 

Self-government,  114 
Shuttleworth,   Sir    James,  37, 

90 


Sisters'  schools,  33 

Society  for  the  Public  Good,  46 

Specializing,  188 

Spenser,  72 

State  as  organ  of  the  national 
reason,  41 

appointment  of  professors, 

198,  223 

authority  and  class  divi- 
sion, in 

establishment  of  second- 
ary schools,  105 

interference  in  education, 

16,  29 
suspected  in  England,  159 

— • —  religion,  223 

Stein's  Land  reform,  114 

Studies,  regulation  of,  227 

Superiorities,  elimination  of,  44 

Superiority  in   education   due 
to  organization,  273 

Switzerland,      tendencies      of 
democracy  in,  44 


TAINE,  143 
j  Talleyrand  on  English  public 

schools,  28 

'   Teachers,  training  of,  10 
self  culture,  93 
training    and   status    of,    in 

Germany,  276 
Dutch,  45,  47 
examination  of,  48 
French  and  English,  142 
of  modern  languages,  165 
payment  of,  Prussian,  167 
women,  12 

Teaching,  uniformity  in,  2 
function  of  private,  2 
the  art  of,  165 
mechanical,  241 
Teaching  orders  in  France,  23, 

27.  134 

Technical  schools,  156 
Training    a    better    guarantee 

than  examination,  199 
Training  schools  in  German}', 

279 
in  France,  280 


INDEX 


Translation,  the  only  tribunal 

of,  54 

essential,  67 
rhymed,  58 
verse,  85 
Translator,  task  of,  54 

fidelity  in,  58 

Translators,  Pope  a  warning 
to,  61 

UNDENOMINATIONAL      educa- 
tion, 152 

Under-government,  22 
Uniformity    in    French    curri- 
culum, 226 
in  teaching,  2 

Universities,  English,  12,  31 
contrasted  with  German  and 

French  systems,  176 
provincial,  foreshadowed,  196 
mediaeval,  264 

University   education   in    Ire- 
land, 220 


University  of  France,  136 

revenue  of,  136 
University  of  Paris,  128,  130, 

131.  134 
Useful  knowledge  in   schools, 

160 
Utrecht,  51 

VIRGIL,  68 

Vivacity,  some  excuse  for,  88 

Voltaire,  66 

Voluntary  schools,  235 

WELLINGTON,  Duke  of,  80 
Welsh    schools    and    English 

language,  4,  119,  121 
Wolf,  165,  260 
Women  teachers  in  1855 ..  12 
Wordsworth,  209,  235 
Working-class  and  middle-class 

education,  31,  106,  233 
Wright,  73 


THE   END 


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